


Bottoms Up

by AshitaNewssnoopy



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, College Dorm Shower Shenanigans, Dorms, First Meetings, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Meet-Cute, Nude Modeling, Strip Tease, Stripping, Underage Drinking, dorm room shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-03-30 04:34:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13942698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshitaNewssnoopy/pseuds/AshitaNewssnoopy
Summary: For Justin, it was all about the ass. Or, Justin spots Brian across the campus and decides that he is the perfect candidate for his latest art project; but after getting to know him, he might just keep him.





	1. First Sighting

**First Sighting**

He was going to fail; he just knew it.

And then all his hard work since his father, (the homophobic asshole), kicked him out - busting his ass every waking hour in the studio, his forced servitude in the guise of internships each summer, working ungodly hours at the diner and the tutoring he took on the side for a bit of cash - would be for naught.

All because he couldn’t find the perfect ass.

Brushing his hand through his fine, blonde hair, Justin scanned the quad area a tad desperately. When he came up with the idea for this project, he just couldn’t see himself doing yet another cutesy, little, real or mythical, animal like the rest of his classmates. Seriously, if he had to look at one more pink or purple or turquoise unicorn or the like, and _not_ tell the artist what he _really_ thought, he might just vomit.

Which led to him, Daphne and Emmett spending a drunken Saturday evening doing vodka shots and brainstorming ideas. It also explained the idea that he glommed onto with all the enthusiasm of a...well, a drunk, college student. But at least he was living up to standard. Anything was better than another panda bear no matter how cute they might be.

Plus he could lie and say he was interested in combining this project with his life studies class. That sounded much more inspired than exactly what it was - the musings of a bunch of horny, giggling college friends who were far too drunk for their own good.

His professor might just buy that; she was usually far too high herself to care.

It left him wondering just why he’d taken this class in the first place.

The problem came when trying to find the perfect specimen for his project.

He honestly didn’t think it would be this difficult to find a model for a seemingly simplistic art project; but most of the available pickings had left him feeling uninspired. (In more ways than one.) And when he felt uninspired, nothing came out right.

In fact, the only person that had even come close to the image in his mind, had been Drew Boyd, the college’s star quarterback. And he was so far into the closet that Justin would have to trudge through the snow drifts of Narnia just to ask him if he’d pose for him. And Justin really was not a fan of snow or people who have their heads, or in this case asses, buried in it.

But now, with the project’s deadline looming over his head, he was getting a bit desperate, and might just chance asking Drew.

And that’s when he saw _him_.

Justin froze and time seemed to stand still as he stared at what surely had to be the most beautiful man he’d ever seen. Honestly, he’s not sure how he’d missed him in the first place as he was exactly Justin’s type. Tall and handsome, the man had a good five to six inches on him, with dark brown hair that had auburn highlights when the sun hit it, and a kissable mouth.

But even more amazing was his ass.

Although he was slender, with more of a swimmer’s build than a more bulked-up, athletic build, his ass was a thing of beauty and Justin was dying to get his hands on it.

In a purely artistic way, of course.

Yeah, he didn’t quite believe that himself.

And then the handsome stranger looked up, and Justin’s breath caught in his throat as sharp, intelligent, hazel eyes looked straight at him, a small smirk twitching at the corner of his oh-so-kissable mouth. And he knew, in that very moment, that he had to have this man in any way, shape or form that he could.

 

**… … … … …**

 

So, Justin has turned into a bit of a stalker.

But when faced with such perfection, could anyone really blame him?

It started with him merely having lunch in the same quad area that he’d spotted Tall, Dark and Steamy, but after three days of nothing, and a tighter than he liked deadline, he upped the ante, and began to actively look for his quarry. But he hadn’t been successful, seeing Tall, Dark and Steamy from a distance, only to have him disappear as soon as Justin had made his way to his last known location.

It was getting a bit frustrating.

Not to mention becoming a source of endless amusement to his friends; they’d taken to spending all their free time helping him stalk the poor bastard. Well, at least Daphne did. Emmett just shook his head and told him he was better off finding someone that wanted to be found. But Daphne took one look at his face and began scheming right along with him.

That was why she’d been his best friend since pre-school.

But even with her help, and Emmett’s non-help, Justin still hadn’t tracked down his mystery man and it was starting to feel a bit hopeless.

“You know, Jus,” Daphne said, giving him a sympathetic smile. “I hate to say this, but you might have to settle for someone else. Your project is due in like a week. And while you’re good…”

“Yeah, I know,” Justin said, pushing his food around his plate. “I just hate to compromise. He’s so perfect and I just want…”

Justin paused, a grin stealing over his face as he he spied a welcome sight indeed out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head to the right, a frisson of awareness jolted down his spine as Tall, Dark and Steamy entered the quad where he, Daph and Emmett were eating and sat at one of the unoccupied tables.

“Oh, don’t look now, but Tall, Dark and Steamy is approaching at my three o’clock,” Justin said in a low voice, feeling a bit breathless.

“I love that - Tall, Dark and Steamy,” Daphne tittered, but didn’t bother looking as she’d seen him from a distance before. “You make him sound like a latte.”

“I bet he’d taste just as yummy.” Justin smiled dreamily, his eyes following his mystery man’s movements as he unpacked his bag.

“Good to the last drop.” Daphne smirked.

Justin turned to her with an arched brow, and then dissolved into giggles at her unrepentant grin. This is why he loved her so much. They thought on the same wave-length. If he’d been straight he would have proposed to her a long time ago.

“Well, if I ever find out, you’ll be the first to know.” Justin leered.

Emmett snorted, his eyes trained on mystery man. “Don’t even try it, Baby.”

“Try what?” Justin asked, all innocence.

“Making a play for La God Kinney,” Emmett said, turning back to Justin and Daphne. “Many a man has tried, and all have failed. Sadly, the only thing that the Great God Kinney has eyes for these days are his books.”

“I’m not after him.” Justin flushed; denial, it’s not just a river in Egypt. “I’m just after his ass…”

Emmett arched a skeptical brow.

“Not in that way, pervert,” Justin rolled his eyes. That was his story and he was sticking to it. Of course, if anything more happened, he certainly wouldn’t complain. “It’s for an art project.”

“Sure it is,” Daphne chimed in at the same time as Emmett said. “You keep telling yourself that, Baby.”

Justin just stuck his tongue out at the both of them and didn’t bother to answer as they knew him far too well for him to even attempt lying. But that was interesting information.

“So, his name is Kinney?” Justin asked, trying, and failing, to hide his interest.

“Brian Kinney,” Emmett nodded as he dragged one of his fries through his ranch dressing. “Heartbreaker of females and star of every gay boy’s wet dreams. Not that it does them any good. The females because he’s out and burned-the-fucking-closet-down proud, and the boys because he pays absolutely no attention to them.”

Emmett paused and gave Justin an appraising look over before continuing.

“You, on the other hand, you sweet, young  thing; with your cute, little, bubble-butt, and a mouth that was just made for…” Emmett trailed off knowingly. Justin blushed while Daphne scrunched her nose in disgust. “Well, he might just make an exception for you.”

“It’s all about the ass,” Justin leered, giving his ass an impertinent wag.

“Well, you’ve worked it to get your way enough times,” Emmett snickered. “I’d love to see you take Kinney on…God knows I’d love to witness Big Bad’s downfall. ”

“If anyone could do it, it’d be Justin,” Daphne stated with unswerving loyalty.

Justin gave his friend a small smile and then turned to watch Brian through his lashes. While Emmett’s words were hardly encouraging, Justin just wasn’t ready to give up. Brian Kinney was undeniably the sexiest, most beautiful man he’d ever laid eyes on. And Justin was well aware that he was no slouch in the looks department himself. It could work.

“I’m going in.” Justin said decisively, flicking a grin at his friends.  “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck, Baby,” Emmett said, shaking his head. “You’re going to need it.”


	2. Party Favors

**Party Favors**

Brian was desperately trying not to snicker.

But the cute, little blonde’s antics were making it nearly impossible.

He probably would have too, if Blondie hadn’t leered at his friend just then and risen up in his chair to give his rather spectacular ass an impertinent shake. Brian watched, entranced, and bit his lower lip as he imagined all the fun he could have with that ass. It was truly a work of art. And that... _that_ thought had him reacting in a very different manner.

Shifting in his seat, he pressed a subtle hand against his cock and cast a longing glance over the blonde’s form, lingering on that ass just a moment longer than the rest of him. Fuck but he was beautiful. Far too beautiful for his _and_ Brian’s own good. A temptation he could ill afford right now; but it seemed as if his hormones hadn’t quite gotten the memo yet.

His dick hadn’t either.

Scrubbing a hand over his face, he turned away from the enticing sight hoping that by ignoring said blond, he could once again concentrate on his studies. Rolling his lips between his teeth, he was now regretting his vow to keep his hands to himself for the remainder of his school career - a choice that seemed wise at the time, but was now beginning to grate.

He fully admitted that he’d been a bit of a party-boy and a (very) well-known playboy during his undergrad years. But what can he say? He was young and finally out from under his parents’ oppressive thumbs and he went a bit wild in his freedom. Most kids do; although, he did take it to the far extreme, spending most nights drinking, tricking and doing any drug he could.

It had slowed in his senior year due to working on his theses. But once he’d been accepted into Carnegie Mellon’s very competitive MBA program, all those free hours died an ignominious death. And these days, between his internship at Ryder and his graduate studies - a double major of Business Administration and Behavioral Marketing and Decision Research - he just didn’t have much chance to breathe, let alone fuck anyone.

It was very quickly leading into Brian being a dull boy these days.

(Not that his hormones or his dick had gotten the hint.)

He hadn’t had sex in...God, he didn’t even want to think about just how long it had been since he had stuck his dick into anything other than his own hand. It was truly a sacrilege that _he’d_ been limited to nothing but it for this long; but he simply didn’t have the time, or the energy, to hit the clubs and find a nice, willing, _convenient_ trick for a few hours.

That was likely why Blondie was looking so damned attractive right now; because he definitely was _not_ the convenient type. He was the keep him, and cherish him and whispered forevers type; and like fuck was Brian going to get lured into that tangled web.

Brian glanced back over at the table, disappointed when he noticed the blond had sat back down and seemed to be having an intense discussion with the cute, little black girl he was always running around with and ...Emmett? His brow pinched as he recognized his longtime friend; he didn't realize that they knew each other. Maybe he could get Em to introduce him to…

Brian shook his head at his thoughts.

He _did not_ have time to get involved with precocious twinks, not matter how adorable they may be. (And maybe one day his dick would get the fucking message.)

He knew when to stay the hell away.

Mostly.

But damn, _that ass_ ; it had him rock hard and fantasizing of all the ways he wanted to worship it for far longer than he’d ever wanted to admit.

Brian licked his lips and looked away, flushing when he noticed Emmett staring at him with a knowing look. Fucking Honeycutt. He’d better keep his damned mouth shut if he knew what was good for him; he did not need this distraction right now. Not when he had two exams, a presentation and a fucking project due next week.

He glowered at his books, wondering once again what had prompted him to do a double major. He must have lost his fucking mind. Rubbing a hand across his brow, he sighed and picked up his pen, determined to to get through at least one more chapter before calling it quits.

Why was he doing this again?

Right, because it meant he could get the fuck away from his so-called loving family and prove to them once and for all that he was so much better than they were.

Sighing, Brian quickly found his place again and started to read, but his attention was quickly shot to hell when he heard that laugh - the one that had been haunting his daydreams lately. It was soft and husky and he just knew that it lit up Blondie’s face. And God, did it make everything in his body clench as he imagined laying him across his bed, his face lit up with laughter and pink with passion, his lips red and bruised from kissing and…

Fuck. There he went again; he really needed to get laid.

Maybe _then_ he would stop obsessing about blond boy’s ass. He ignored the little voice in his head, the one that always suspiciously sounded like Lindsey, that laughed at that notion. What the hell did it know anyways?

Looking up at Blondie once more, Brian rolled his lips between his teeth and studied him, puzzled as to why this particular blond had held his attention after the first glance. He _was_ beautiful; but so were the many others who had garnered his attention and he normally stuck to tricks his age, not fresh-faced undergrads that looked as pure and innocent as the driven snow.

But this one...

He’d definitely noticed the hot, little blonde before today. With an ass and smile like that you’d have to be dead not to notice him. He’d even indulged in the thought of approaching him, but had  quickly shunted the desire aside. He didn’t do dates. He didn’t do relationships. And that one had ‘date me and love me’ written all over him.

Plus with him taking grad classes, and the blond in undergrad (he thought), their schedules never overlapped and they didn’t run into each other all that often.

So, out of sight, out of mind. He’d put it aside and forgotten all about it after the first couple of weeks of hell...he meant classes, and focused on his long term goals rather than the potential short-term satisfaction of what he was sure would be an amazing fuck. And it worked.

That is until recently.

And now for some reason, the little blond was _everywhere_.

Brian first noticed it about three days ago. At first he thought it was just a coincidence that the other boy kept popping up or that he was mistaking some other blond for this one. And then he thought that Blondie was taking some business courses; although, that had seemed odd considering he’d heard that Blondie was becoming a rather well known artist on campus. But by the second day, Brian couldn’t deny it any more - the blond was stalking him.

And damned if he didn’t find Blondie’s attempts at contact utterly adorable.

It had become a game to him, teasing the blond with glimpses of him, only to disappear just as the blond was close to finding him. He admitted, at least to himself, in taking an almost perverse satisfaction in continuing to thwart Blondie. Not to mention, he was curious as to how far the other boy would go to get his attention.

They’d continued to play this game of cat and mouse, with Blondie likely thinking _he_ was the cat, until finally Brian’s own curiosity had grown to the point that it led him to here. He was aware that Blondie and his friends often lunched in this quad due to his own observations; and actually, now that he’d seen them together, he recalled Emmett rambling on and on in their Ethic and Leadership class about having lunch with a Justin on most days.

Could that be…?

Anyway, after three days, he finally had let his curiosity get the better of him and decided it would be a good idea to find out just what Blondie was up to and let himself be ‘caught.’

Because, as he said, his hormones _still_ hadn’t realized that there was no time for this shit.

Hastily turning back to his books as the blond stood, Brian watched from the corner of his eye as Blondie made one last comment to his amused friend and an equally skeptical Emmett and all but bounced his way over to Brian’s table, swishing his fine ass the whole way. Fuck, that thing should be declared a weapon of mass destruction; it was a menace to one’s mental well being.

He glanced up, a small smirk curling his lips, as Blondie draped himself over the table, leaving his most pleasing asset fully on display. And Brian had to hand it to him; Blondie knew he had a spectacular ass and he used it to its full distraction. Poking his tongue into his cheek, Brian looked at him with faint amusement and asked:

“May I help you?”

Blondie smiled, that full, mega-watt, sunshine smile that nearly blinded Brian in its intensity.

And fuck, of course he had a beautiful mouth too.

“I have a completely random, but serious question.” Blondie said, toying with the edge of one of Brian’s notebooks. He bit his lower lip and looked away as if trying to find the right words; Brian mentally cursed at the action as he imagined pulling his lip out from between his teeth and biting it for him. Blondie sighed and looked back.

“Can I make a papier-mâché mold of your ass and turn it into a pinata filled with airplane bottles of liquor?” he blurted out, his cheeks a delicious shade of pink. “It’s for my art class.”

Say what?

Brian shook his head and stared at the blond, wondering if he’d heard him correctly. But when Blondie just stared right back with a perfectly serious look on his face, Brian had to take him at his word. After all, he had heard the blond was an artist, and really the request was just too funny not to give it due consideration. An ass pinata filled with booze. He liked this kid already.

Arching a brow, Brian flicked his eyes slowly over the blond’s body, again getting stuck on his ass for much longer than was polite. Blondie just grinned; and, knowing full well where Brian’s eyes had landed, gave his ass another little wag. Fucking tease.

“What?” Brian drawled sardonically, meeting eyes that would have made sapphires jealous. “Not even going to offer me a drink before trying to get me naked?”

Blondie’s smile brightened even further if it were at all possible.

“Well,” Blondie said coyly, his eyes glinting with mischief. “I suppose, since I _am_ desperately in need of your ass - in a purely, aesthetic, artistic way, of course -  it couldn’t hurt.”

Brian mentally snickered at that. Purely artistic way his ass. No pun intended. He knew damned well that he was good looking and he also knew that Blondie was just as affected by him as he was by Blondie. Not that anything was going to happen since he didn’t have time for it.

(If he said it enough times, he just might start believing it too.)

“Right,” Brian said, flicking another quick glance over the blond before deciding, why the hell not? If nothing else, he’d get a free drink out of this, and just maybe, he’d learn enough about the blond that it would quell his curiosity and he could focus on his work. Without saying a word, he closed his books and began throwing everything into his bag.

The blond grinned and bounced back over to the table. He shoved the rest of his fries at Emmett and picked up his bag. Brian stood up and walked over to the other table. He paused just behind Blondie and stared once again as he bent over, just barely catching the blond's words in his distraction.

"I told you so; _never_ underestimate my Twink Powers," Blondie said to Emmett, a knowing smirk pasted on his lips; and then he turned, flushing when he saw Brian standing right behind him with his own knowing smirk. “Ah…”

Brian just waved a hand in the direction of his favorite pub, inviting the blond to walk ahead of him; because it was polite and not at all because he wanted to stare at his ass on the way.

“Lead the way Mr. Artiste; I have a feeling this will be an interesting discussion.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Prompts:** Texts from Last Night - _I have a completely random, but serious question. Can I make a paper mache mold of your ass and turn it into a pinata filled with airplane bottles of liquor? It’s for my art class._ Meet cute - Justin sees Brian on campus and walks up to him and blurts it out.


	3. Worth a Shot (or Two)

**Worth a Shot (or Two)**

Justin couldn’t believe his luck.

After nearly a week of stalking the man, he’d finally managed to corner the incomparable Brian Kinney, as well as gotten him to, at the very least, agree to listen to his proposal. It was almost too good to be true, and he suspected that it likely was. Given how difficult it had been tracking the man down, he couldn’t help being suspicious of his sudden appearance today.

Not that he was complaining; far from it.

If it meant that he had the opportunity to get his hands on that very delectable ass—for his art, of course—he wasn’t going to question the whys or hows of it. His mama didn’t raise no fool.

Looking over his shoulder, he shot a grin at the man walking directly behind him, eyes firmly attached to Justin’s ass. He couldn’t really blame him; Justin had been told many a time that his ass was a work of art and he had absolutely no problem whatsoever exploiting it to get what he wanted in this case. Adding an extra little sway to his hips, Justin snickered internally when Kinney looked up and arched a brow.

Justin just shrugged and grinned unrepentantly; hey, if the guy wanted to stare, he’d give him something to stare at. He wasn’t even going to pretend that he wasn’t flirting. Oh, he knew Emmett had said it would likely be a hopeless case; that Kinney wasn’t interested in hooking up. But Kinney had never run into the likes of him before.

And he could be quite the persistent little fucker when he saw something he wanted.

And want he did.

Good God, but the man was even more gorgeous up close and Justin had no idea how he was going to keep his hands off him once he had him stripped down in his studio. Although, by the way the brunet was burning a hole into his favorite cargos, Justin might not have to worry.  

He turned back to face the front, giggling under his breath when he heard Kinney’s indelicate snort. Biting his bottom lip, his sucked in breath and held it, his stomach quivering as he felt the brunet come up behind him.

“And just what are you laughing about, little boy?” he whispered near Justin’s ear.

“Why only the most innocent of amusements…” Justin smirked, the lewd expression on his face belying his words.

Kinney laughed, head thrown back. “Well, I’ll just let you get back to that then. I wouldn’t want to interrupt time well spent.” Kinney purred, sending a shiver down Justin’s spine.

And Justin could quite easily imagine why every gay man and straight woman was just begging to have this man in their bed. That voice alone was pure sex—combined with the way he looked and the way he moved with complete and utter confidence, it was a potent mixture. Hell, Justin was ready to roll over right now and say, ‘take me, I’m yours.’

What exactly had he gotten himself into?

Justin flicked his eyes slowly down over the brunet and licked his lips before meeting that hypnotic gaze once more, a cheeky smile on his face.

“Time is always better spent with a partner,” he said coyly, and then all but choked on his spit when Kinney gave him the same treatment.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” the brunet smirked, chuckling when Justin’s breath hitched and he hastily turned back around.

Fuck. How was he supposed to concentrate now?

Heaving an internal sigh of relief as they reached Woody’s, Justin slipped into the cool, dark bar with Tall, Dark and Steamy on his heels. He paused, and looked around, searching for a table, but it was packed as usual with the lunch crowd. Biting his lip, he looked over at the bar and started towards it, but halted when Kinney just shook his head.

Justin looked at him with a frown, and opened his mouth to ask why he didn’t want to sit at the bar, but Kinney wasn’t even looking at him. Instead his eyes were focused on a table where the patrons were lingering over their lunch. Grabbing Justin by the arm, he dragged him towards the table, his eyes intent on a tall man with cropped medium brown hair, who was dressed like an accountant and looked to be a year or two older than Kinney.

The older man nodded at them and then gestured to his younger, blond companion, saying something Justin couldn’t hear from their distance. The two patrons quickly cleared away their mess and stood, vacating their table as if Kinney were royalty.

“Brian,” the older man greeted as he picked up his bag.

“Ted,” Kinney returned amicably, then took his seat without saying a word, as if he’d just been given his due. Justin raised a brow at the interaction, but Kinney just gestured to the other, now unoccupied, seat. Okay then.

Ted looked between the two of them, likely expecting an introduction, but Kinney just stared at him blandly The other man smirked, shaking his head; then he cleared his throat and put his arm around the younger blond and turned on his heel when the introduction wasn’t forthcoming.

“See you in Ethics and Leadership, Bri,” Ted said as he walked away.

Kinney didn’t bother to respond; and Justin wasn’t quite sure what to make of the entire encounter. But those thoughts faded as soon as Kinney turned to him and pinned him to his chair with those ever-changing hazel eyes; ones that seemed to fluctuate between green, gold and brown dependent upon his mood and the lighting. And fuck, Justin could do a whole study on his eyes alone; and _was,_ in fact, mentally planning his next abstract painting based on those colors.

“So,” Kinney said, his lips curling in amusement.

“So…” Justin trailed off nervously; now that he’d gotten his prey here, he wasn’t quite sure what to say. He’d had this all planned out in his head earlier, but now faced with the man, it all seemed rather stupid to his mind’s eye.

Kinney arched a brow, obviously waiting for Justin to explain what he’d meant earlier; and he took a deep breath to do so, but before he could begin, a server came up and asked them for their drink and food order. Kinney ordered a simple double Beam on the rocks, while Justin ordered a platter of Smothered Fries and a Between the Sheets.

“Between the Sheets?” Kinney said, eyeing him a bit scornfully. “I’m not sure whether I should laud or mock your choice of drinks.”

“Mock?,” Justin arched a brow, quite used to the disdain some men showed to his favoring of so-called girly drinks and not the least deterred by it. “Why would you do that?”

“Well, it’s not exactly...” Kinney grimaced, and looked away, obviously realizing that what he was about to say could be taken offensively.

“It’s a ‘girly’ drink?” Justin guessed, smirking when Kinney looked a bit sheepish. He shrugged, leaning back when the server, Sean he thought his name was, (but couldn’t be quite certain as that Friday was a bit fuzzy; he’d just call him Sean for now), set his drink in front of him. “I’d like to point out that my so-called ‘girly’ drink has about twice the alcohol as yours. And for approximately the same price. Important to a college student and starving artist.”

He wasn’t about to be shamed for his choice in beverage.

“I’ll concede to your point,” Kinney smirked, toasting him with his glass before taking a sip.

Justin grinned and did the same.

“So, tell me about this project.” Kinney leaned back in his chair, his eyes intent on Justin. And then he cocked his head thoughtfully.  “Actually, skip that; before we get into the what, why don’t we start with an actual introduction. After all, I’d like to know the name of the man that’s planning to get his hands on my ass,” Brian paused. “In a purely artistic way, of course.”

Justin grinned and held out his hand. “Justin Taylor.”

“Brian Kinney,” the brunet smirked taking his hand. “Although, I have a feeling you already knew that little tidbit given you’re friends with Emmett.”

“Guilty as charged,” Justin smirked. “He did fill me in on some of your more...interesting points.”

“Did he?” Kinney eyed him thoughtfully. “Well, that Queen never could keep a secret to save his life. Nothing too...scandalous, I hope.”

“That remains to be seen,” Justin said, his eyes sparkling with amusement as he popped a maraschino cherry in his mouth. “I take everything with a grain of salt until have...viable proof.”

“Trust me, anything he says,” Kinney paused to take a sip of his drink. “Is likely an understatement of the facts.”

“Is that so?”

Justin plucked another cherry out of his glass; holding it by its stem, he dangled it in the air for a second before he plopped it into his mouth and sucked, closing his eyes as a small burst of cherry juice and alcohol coated his tongue. Opening his eyes, he smiled as he met the brunet’s heated gaze and then chewed, thrilling when that hot gaze dropped to his mouth.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said just a touch smugly.

“You do that,” Kinney said, flicking his gaze back up to Justin’s for a long, intense moment. Justin licked his lips and was about to say damn the consequences when Kinney cleared his throat and shifted in his seat, clearly ready to get back to business. “So, the project?”

Right. Back to the reason he approached him in the first place.

“Well, I’m taking Introduction to Papier-Mâché with Allison Montaigne…” Justin paused when he noticed Kinney giving him an incredulous look. He rolled his eyes. “Requirements. Don’t ask.” Kinney rolled his lips between his teeth as if trying to hold back a laugh, but nodded in acknowledgement anyway. Justin huffed and continued his explanation. “And we have to _‘create a pinata that is not only a stunning work of art, but an insight into who we are as a person,’_ or some such bullshit.”

“Right,” Kinney nodded again and then cocked his head. “So, why this?”

Justin paused, chagrined; he hadn’t expected Kinney to actually ask him about why he chose this particular subject matter. And like hell was he going to tell the other man that it was the brainwave of a bunch of friends drunk off of vodka and jello shots. So, he figured he’d just give the bullshit reason he gave his instructor.

“Well, I decided to combine what I was learning in life studies class with the project and-”

“You were drunk,” Kinney interrupted, eyes sparkling with amusement.

“No, I just thought it would be an interesting study into…” Justin protested, but he knew the other man wasn’t buying his excuse when he just laughed.

“Just admit you were drunk. It’s not like I’m going to judge you,” Kinney said as he threw back the rest of his drink.

“Maybe a little,” Justin said a bit sheepishly. “It sounded like a good idea at the time.”

“I’m sure it did,” Kinney said and set his glass down.

He looked around, his face lighting up when he caught sight of Sean and held up his glass as Sean walked by. Sean nodded and headed over to the bar to fulfill his request. Which he did in no time, bringing it over along with Justin’s fries. After depositing the drink and fries on the table, Sean turned to Justin with a shit-eating grin.

And then that Friday came back to him in startling clarity.

Oh, fuck no! He wasn’t going to bring that up now, was he?

“So, Justin,” Sean drawled, obviously taking great glee in what he was about to say. “Are you ready for the contest next Friday. I can’t wait to see your costume!”

Fucker. Of course, he was.

Justin snorted in irritation, glaring at the other man for all he was worth. Asshole.

“Contest?” Kinney asked as he looked back and forth between the two of them, obviously picking up on the tension between them. But Justin remained silent.

“Yup,” Sean continued, totally ignoring Justin’s death glare. See if he ever helped him escape from those tedious dorm activities again. “Justin here is competing in the King of Babylon contest. Someone had a few too many and foolishly accepted a dare to strip for charity.” Sean paused when he saw Kinney’s blank expression. “It’s a charity show that…”

“I’m well aware of what King of Babylon is,” Kinney waved him off and turned to Justin with smirk. “You’re just full of good ideas while drunk, aren’t you, Sunshine.”

_Sunshine?_

Justin looked at Kinney curiously, but knew he’d get no answers now; he’d definitely be coming back to that later. Right now, he had a pest to get rid of; as soon as possible before the pain in the ass spilled even more of his secrets. “Don’t you have a job to do? And you’ll just have to wait and see what my costume is like all the rest of the good little horny queers.”

“Aw, but Justin...” Sean whined, but left when Justin sent him an unimpressed look.

Justin, for his part, remained silent, flushing and shifting uneasily beneath Kinney’s piercing stare. The other man opened his mouth, likely to tease Justin further, but then seemed to think better of it and got back to the matter at hand.

“Sooo,” Kinney drew the word out as he studied Justin intently, as if he were trying to puzzle out all of Justin’s secrets. “Just how does the, let me see if I remember it exactly - a pinata in the shape of my ass, filled with filled with airplane bottles of liquor - reflect on you as a person?”

Justin’s cheeks grew hot at the question, as he had no fucking idea how to answer it; but he decided to brazen it out anyway.

“Wouldn’t you like to know…” Justin flirted, looking at Kinney through his lashes.

When in doubt, flirt. That was his new motto.

“Oh, I definitely would,” Kinney said, watching Justin as if he were contemplating making Justin his next meal. Something with which Justin had absolutely no qualms. “I don’t know; let me think about this for a moment.”

Justin nodded and popped another cherry into his mouth, stem and all. He bit the fruit off and tucked the stem under his tongue, quickly chewing and swallowing the fruit while Kinney continued sipping his drink in companionable silence. He pulled the stem out from under his tongue and maneuvered it until it was resting it on the tip of it. He curled his tongue and set out methodically working on the one party trick that he knew sent every man to his knees.

No one had ever said that he was above pulling a few dirty tricks to get his way.

Kinney continued to watch him silently, obviously trying to work out what Justin was up to, but also not willing to break the silence to ask. Finally, a couple of minutes later, Justin grinned and pulled out the stem, showing that it had been twisted into a loose knot.

Grabbing one end of the stem with his teeth, he pulled the knot tight and then threw it down onto the table between them. Kinney stared at it for a long moment, and then looked up, his eyes all but fucking Justin where he sat. He cleared his throat, slammed the rest of his drink and then licked his lips before leaning in to ask lowly.

“So, when did you want to get started?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Prompts:** Cherries; twister (in any variation); One of them accidentally entering a ridiculous contest being held there. Someone being a dick about "girly" drinks and having it pointed out to them that said drinks have like, triple the alcohol; jello shots, “Why only the most innocent of amusements…”


	4. Walk Into My Parlor

**Walk Into My Parlor**

Brian fully admits that he was thinking with his dick when he accepted Taylor’s request to model for his art project. Had he been thinking straight, he would have firmly said no and then run quickly in the other direction because he _did not_ have time for this. But when someone can tie a cherry stem in their mouth using nothing but their tongue and teeth... well, he can’t be blamed for his life choices when his hormones are running wild.

Plus the sexy, little blond was hardly playing fair.

It was interesting to be the one who was pursued, rather the one doing the pursuing. Oh, Brian was used to being fawned over; he was used to men following him around in the hopes that it would interest him in a night in their beds. But it had been a long time since someone had actively sought him out andmade a play for him.

He kind of liked it.

Taylor certainly hadn’t been shy in stating his desires either; or in acting on them.

 

_“How about now?” Taylor said, his eyes dark with lust as they traveled over Brian’s body._

_Brian licked his lips and had to marvel at the nerve of this kid. He had a pair of titanium balls to come onto Brian without batting an eye; especially given Brian’s reputation. And Brian didn’t doubt for one minute that he knew of said reputation; Emmy Lou wouldn’t have let this boy swan off to beard the lion in his den without a warning. But he’d done it anyways._

_Brian couldn’t help admiring that._

_“I think I can spare an hour or two,” he said, his own eyes running down the hot, little blond’s compact body, imaging him stretched out beneath him. Biting the inside of his cheek, he flicked his eyes back up and met bold blue._

_“Oh, we’re definitely going to need more than that,” Taylor purred, toying with the stem he’d just tossed on the table between them. And fuck, that was hot. He was hard just imagining what that talented tongue could do for his dick. “In fact, it might just take several days of hands on work, with long, hard hours deep into the night…”_

_Brian’s dick hardened further as he studied his prey; because that was what this boy was quickly shaping up to be if he didn't watch it. There was only so much taunting he’d take before he pinned the sassy blond against the nearest flat surface and took what he was so blatantly offering. Not that he thought Taylor would complain with said events.  
_

_Finishing off his drink he rose from his seat and prowled around the small cocktail table; he placed a hand on either side of Taylor’s body, caging him between his arms as he leaned down. Taylor’s breath hitched as he tipped his head back and returned Brian’s heated look with a bold stare._

_Fuck, this kid had balls._

_Brian slid his hands up the arms of the chair and, resting them on the back of it, took another step forward; so, that their legs were touching and their mouths were just inches apart. He tapped his forehead to Taylor’s, all too aware of the way the blond’s breath quickened, falling in soft puffs against his face, and ignored the little voice that told him he was in way over his head._

_“Be careful what you wish for, little boy,” Brian cautioned, the sparks in his gut igniting when Taylor just stared at him defiantly, completely unafraid of any consequences. And his admiration just grew. “You just might get it.”_

_“You say that like it’s a threat.” Taylor arched a brow, looking to all the world as if butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. But Brian, seeing the way his pulse fluttered in his neck, knew different._

_“Oh, that’s not a threat, Sunshine,” Brian chuckled softly, lifting a hand to rub his thumb over that fluttering pulse, and then trailed his fingers over the blond’s jaw. Taylor swallowed thickly as Brian whispered. “That is a full on guarantee.”_

_And with that, Brian pulled away and picked up his bag from the side of his chair. He opened his wallet and threw a few bills on the table, more than enough to cover their bill despite Taylor’s agreeing to pay for it earlier. He shoved it back in his pocket and then snagged the blond’s shirt and tugged him behind him, only stopping long enough for Taylor to grab his own bag._

_He desperately needed to get some air before he threw the hot, little blond over their table and fucked his pretty, tight, little ass for all to see._

 

Which led him here, wandering around a studio that was obviously used by multiple people, but was currently empty due to classes. Taylor pulled out a few things he needed for a preliminary sitting. Or, at the very least a quick sketch and some measurements as he expected his studio mates to be back within the hour, and they wouldn’t have any privacy after that.

Trailing his fingers along one of the counters, Brian walked towards an uncovered easel; he knew it was rude to look at anyone’s work uninvited, but told himself that if they didn’t want it seen, they wouldn’t have left it out in the open. Glancing over his shoulder, he took a moment to appreciate the very fine ass on display as Taylor bent over at the waist and rummaged through a drawer for his tools.

Fuck, but that was a fine ass - firm, perfectly rounded and just begging to be plowed.

Looking away, he stepped in front of the easel and then froze, stunned to see his own image staring up at him. It was a pastel sketch of himself from the shoulders up, his hair falling in his eyes as he looked at the artist with an intensity that took his breath away. His hair seemed to gleam, as if gilded by the sun, lighting it with rich auburn highlights, and his face finely etched, and perfectly proportioned, a knowing smirk on his lips.

But it was the eyes that captivated him; and obviously the artist as well, as that’s where most of the time seemed to have been spent. And how Taylor had gotten a close enough look at him to capture the gold and green flecks in his eyes, he didn’t know; but he was amazed by the sheer artistry and just how realistic they looked. It was almost like looking into a mirror; and would have been if it weren’t for the size of the canvas.

Drawing a deep breath, Brian shook his head, but couldn’t look away. He had no idea when exactly this moment had taken place, but he could tell that it was fairly recent because of his hair and the fact that he’d only bought that shirt in the last month. Rubbing his hand over his jaw, Brian startled when a drop cloth fell over sketch, breaking his trance.

“Sorry, about that,” Taylor said, his cheeks rosy with embarrassment as he shifted uncomfortably on his feet. Brian looked at him for a long moment, certain his bewilderment was painted on his face for all to see. Thankfully, they were alone. The blond scrubbed a hand through his hair as he continued. “I know I should have asked…”

“Is this how you see me?” Brian said, cutting through the apologies; sorry was bullshit was his motto for a good reason, and really, why on Earth would this boy think he’d be offended to be immortalized on canvas?

Then again, they’d only just met, and Brian had just given his permission to use him as a model for his art project; he could see how Taylor might be worried that he’d be upset.

“Ummm…” Taylor hummed, obviously not sure what to say. And then he shook his head and said a bit of uncertainty. “Yeah? I mean, that was from the first day I saw you. You were walking into the quad, rushing off to somewhere and looked over. You...uh...smirked at me and then continued walking through the quad. I lost you after that.”

Brian just looked at him for a moment and then turned back to the canvas, still utterly speechless.

“I know it needs some work...” Taylor sighed and hunched his shoulders as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Are you kidding me?” Brian cut him off again; mostly because he couldn’t believe what the boy was saying. Needs work? In whose reality was he living in; because they must not be residing in the same one if he thought this needed work.

“Justin…” Brian trailed off as words wouldn’t come again. He shook his head in disbelief. “This is amazing. I literally don’t even have the words to tell you just what an amazing artist you are. And words are kind of my business.”

“Yeah?” Taylor flashed that sunshine smile that always struck Brian dumb; and he knew in that moment he was totally fucked. “So, does that mean you’ll let me show it?”

Brian huffed and shook his head again, eyeing the blond with incredulity.

“You are unbelievable,” he muttered, rolling his eyes when the little twat just giggled and looked pleased with himself. “Will I let you show it; do you really even have to ask?”

“No,” he quipped, his eyes dancing with mischief. “But it’s polite to do so anyways.”

“Unbelievable,” he muttered again and walked towards the window, needing some space to process what he’d just seen.

“So…” Taylor said, dusting off his hands as he walked over to a small table, which held a sketchbook, a couple of pencils and a measuring tape.

“So,” Brian reiterated, amused to see the blond’s nervousness return.

“This would be the part where you strip,” Taylor said with a wicked grin; which only broadened when Brian arched a brow. “Well, at least down to your underpants. I don’t need you to be completely nude for this project.”

Brian just huffed and began to remove his shirt, smirking internally when he heard the blond mutter almost inaudibly, ‘ _at least not yet_.’ Saucy little brat. But he finished undressing, folding and setting his clothing aside, until he was standing in nothing but his black briefs. And then he turned around in enough time to catch Taylor’s eyes sliding covetously over him.

“Where do you want me?” he purred, licking his lips as their eyes caught and desire flared in the blond’s; and Brian could read every dirty thought that flashed through his mind before Taylor flushed and looked away.

“Just stand in front of that screen, would you?” he said, his voice a bit husky as he gestured towards a white, folding screen. Brian walked over and stood there, placing his hands on his hips as he wasn’t quite sure what else to do them; but it seemed to work as Taylor muttered a quick, “thanks,” before turning his attention to his pad.

And then for the next fifteen minutes, Brian stood there, utterly fascinated as Taylor’s fingers flew over the page with a calm, concentrated competence that, truthfully, turned Brian on. He couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have that intensity focused in other areas. He didn’t even have a chance to get bored as his very fertile mind kept him entertained with visions of them wrapped up together in his bed pursuing other pleasurable matters.

“Can you turn around,” Taylor asked, a bit absentmindedly as he flipped the page.

Brian turned and crossed his arms over his chest as the chill of the room started to creep into his bones, pebbling his skin. Something Taylor must have noted as suddenly there was a rush of warm air filling the room. Brian looked over his shoulder and nodded his thanks, but said nothing, much too distracted by his own thoughts.

“Sorry about that, “the blond murmured, his fingers still flying across the page. “I forget how cold this room can get; I usually get too caught up in what I’m doing to pay any mind to it. Just five more minutes and then you can move.”

Brian nodded again and turned around, continuing to hold the pose for required time; which, surprisingly, went much faster than he thought it would considering they hadn’t even been talking. (And didn’t it surprise him further that he didn’t feel the need to fill that silence either as there was nothing awkward about it.)  And then he heard the slap of cardboard against paper and a rustle behind him, as Taylor exhaled heavily and the called out, “That’s good.”

Relaxing his stance, Brian laced his fingers behind his head and stretched, groaning with pleasure when the tension in his back released. God that felt good. And then he smirked when he heard a very breathy, ‘ _so, very good,_ ’ come from behind him. He could get used to this.

“So, uh…” Taylor said as Brian turned back around, his cheeks pink as he walked forward with a measuring tape. “I...um…I need to take some measurements, if you don’t mind.”

“Do you now?” Brian asked, amused at the blond’s current timidness in the wake of his earlier boldness. Justin Taylor was shaping up to be an intriguing puzzle;one he couldn’t wait to unravel further.

Taylor’s eyes flicked up at Brian’s amused huff, blue eyes lit with fire, and grinned.

“Well, we do want to make sure that everything is proportional,” the blond purred; and _there_ he was; there was Brian’s audacious, little lion. “Don’t we?”

“Have at it, Picasso,” Brian chuckled, holding his arms out in a come and get me gesture.

The blond grinned as he walked over and then fell to his knees in front of him. Sinking his teeth into his bottom lip, it took everything Brian had in him _not_ to make the cliched comment. Not that Taylor couldn’t tell what he was thinking based on the gleam in his eyes as he wrapped the measuring tape around his waist; smug brat. And then noting the number, he jotted it down.

“I would have thought that you’d go for someone a bit more... endowed in this area,” Brian said, his breath hitching as slim, cool hands slid over his skin, taking measurement of his hips, the swell of his ass, his upper thighs and the length from his waist to upper thigh. Biting the inside of his cheek, Brian tried to fight back the arousal those hands stoked. “Like Drew Boyd.”

“Well, you know what they say,” Taylor said, looking up through his lashes, tongue in his cheek. “Size isn’t everything.”

“Are you saying that my ass is less than perfect,” Brian demanded in mock offense.

“Not at all; just that it wasn’t the only criteria that I was using when searching for a model,” Taylor denied as he slid his hands between his thighs to take his inseam; and then he licked his lips as he stared pointedly at Brian’s crotch. “Besides, from what I can see; what you lack in that area, you more than make up for it in others.”

Fucking tease.

“Well, I can’t argue with that reasoning.” Brian clasped his hands behind his back in an effort to keep himself from burying them into Taylor’s hair and shoving his face into his rock-hard, leaking dick. The blond just flashed him a knowing grin and went back to what he was doing.

“Plus, I really didn’t feel like trekking to Narnia to drag his ass out of the closet,” Taylor snorted as he jotted down a few more numbers.

Brian laughed and briefly debated on whether or not to reveal that Drew was actually dating Emmett; and then decided it wasn’t his story to tell. Besides, it wasn’t as if they were hiding their relationship. They just kept it private; and Taylor likely hadn’t linked Em’s Drewsie to the football player. And then he didn’t care about either man as the blond gathered his things and stood.

He swallowed thickly and stared down into Taylor’s upturned face, the sunlight streaming through the windows gilding his hair, lashes and lips where he’d recently licked them and his eyes were a wide, cerulean blue. He looked like a summer sprite or nymph or some other fey thing and Brian had to clench his hands to keep from touching his rose-dusted, porcelain skin.

“Should I feel offended that I’m your second choice?” Brian asked in a low, husky voice, his heart quickening as Taylor leaned in to hear him better, bringing the scent of citrus and something woody with him.

“Not at all,” he replied, his own voice hoarse as his eyes lowered to Brian’s mouth; he licked his lips again and flicked his eyes back up, nothing but an honest earnestness in them as he whispered, “after I saw you, no one else existed.”

Brian inhaled sharply and stepped further into Taylor’s personal space, groaning when he felt the blond’s fluttering breaths against his skin. He reached out, as if in a trance, and cupped Taylor’s cheek, marveling softness of his skin and dipped his head. He paused, his lips hovering over the blond’s, and stared into eyes blown with lust, only a thin band of blue visible; and he had just lowered his mouth, their lips almost touching, when a loud clatter in the hall startled them both.

Pulling away, Brian glanced at the clock, cursed and quickly dressed as he was about to be late if he didn’t hurry. Grabbing his book bag, he strode over and halted in front of the blond.

“It’s been...interesting, Taylor,” Brian smirked, his eyes flicking over the flushed, and slightly rumpled blond, arousal still thrumming through his body. “I can’t wait until tomorrow.”

And then he walked towards the door, opened it and stepped out, internally snickering when he heard Taylor cursing behind him. This was going to be a fun project.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Prompts:** Brian POV; Brian/Justin, Sequel to Worth a Shot (or Two); At least one size doesn't matter joke; Brian finding a picture or sketch of himself; UST like crazy; Justin taking measurements (not that kind perv) for the pinata; “This would be the part where you strip.”


	5. The Spider and the Fly

**The Spider and the Fly**

Justin heaved a frustrated sigh, his head pounding to the beat of the music next door, making him wish he had something sharp to impale himself on just so he could end his misery. He really regretted letting his migraine medication subscription lapse on days like this; but given the fact that he was putting himself through school, art supplies seemed more important than meds he used, maybe, every few months.

Scrubbing his hand through his hair, he glared at the thin dorm room wall between him and his most obnoxious neighbor; a man that was at least four years older than him, but still didn’t seem to have a clue about life or what he wanted out of it. And seriously, if he had to listen to him whine one more time about how difficult his life was because his mother didn't get him everything he wanted, he might just commit homicide.

Fucker; at least he _had_ a mother that cared.

Not that his mother didn’t; she was as supportive as she could be. But with his twelve-year-old sister to support because his father was a deadbeat asshole who took off with his secretary, she could only supply him with a few necessities. And Justin hated even taking those from her because he knew that she rarely had any money left over for herself.

Exhaling explosively, Just growled under his breath as yet another song queued, and more heavy bass filled the room, making his walls shake. Seriously, what the fuck was wrong with this guy? Did he think he was at fucking Babylon?

Trying to tune the blaring music out, Justin stared at his notes for his Art History class, but the words just blurred together. And had been since he’d started this venture in an effort to forget a certain sexy brunet. Biting his bottom lip, his mind slipped back to those last few minutes with Brian in the studio, where the beautiful man was so close he could smell his shampoo, soap and the remnants of his cologne. God he smelled so good.

And he bet he tasted even better.

Justin closed his eyes, shivering as he remembered the heat of Brian’s body so close to him, and the way his breath felt as it puffed against his skin. How he could almost feel the brunet’s lips on his, and how they brushed for what seemed like a split second, warm and full and so fucking addictive, Justin had nearly grabbed Brian and dragged him down to the cold, concrete floor with him.

He could just imagine the way those soft hands would feel on his skin, judging by those all too brief touches earlier. The way they’d slide down, divesting him of his clothing and cupping his ass as he ground that beautiful cock against his. Fuck. He bet it’d be amazing.

And then fucking Ethan had to ruin it all by dropping his case outside the door.

He’d been so close to tasting those lips, only to be cockblocked by his idiot roommate. And what the fuck he had even been doing there, he didn’t know, as the music studios were on the opposite side of the building; and he didn’t care. He only cared that the asshole was there and that he’d interfered in Justin getting exactly what he’d wanted since the first time he’d seen Brian.

Fucking Ethan. He’d been so close to shoving his foot up his ratty, flat ass; but then Justin figured he’d like it too much and refrained.

And then the sound of thumpa thumpa broke through his thoughts once again, ratcheting his headache up another notch. Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with this guy?

Snarling at the wall next to his bed, Justin tossed his book aside and got up, his stomach rolling as pain spiked behind his eyes at the sudden movement. Fuck that hurt. Pressing his fingers to his eyes, he rubbed, trying to ease the pressure behind them, but it did little good when the dickhead next door kept playing his fucking, stupid ass music at deafening decibels.

Don’t get him wrong; he enjoyed the thumpa thumpa as well. In the right place at the right time. Meaning in a fucking club and not in a dorm room at 9:30 p.m. on a Tuesday night.

Storming to his door, Justin ripped it open and marched over to the asshole’s door, ignoring his dorm mates hurriedly skittering out of his way. Banging on the door, in an effort to be heard, and not because he was imaging that it was the dickwad’s head; he waited, tapping his foot until he heard a faint scuffling.

“Listen asshole,” Justin began as soon as the door opened, not even bothering to see who it was in front of him. He was just that fucked off and he didn’t really care at this point. “I’ve asked you, politely I’ll remind you, to turn the fucking music down twice; and now, I’m done being nice. If you don’t turn your fucking music down, I will report you to the RA and let Ben hound...your...ass…”

Justin trailed off, and stared in confusion as a familiar face swam in front of him

“Taylor,” Brian said, arching a brow as he stared at him with faint amusement.

“Brian…” Justin said, a small frown on his face as he tried to figure out why he was standing there in asshole’s room. Because he knew that he didn’t live there or he would have noticed him a whole lot sooner.  “What are you doing here? You...I know you don’t live here; do you?”

Justin looked at the brunet with a great deal of bewilderment, wondering if he’d just been missing him somehow.

“Nope,” Brian gleefully said, tossing a smirk over his shoulder at a shorter brunet that Justin had simply dubbed the asshole; or the moron, or the whiny bastard that didn’t appreciate what he had depending on his mood. “Sadly, I’m the asshole’s best friend; I just stopped by for a visit.”

“Brian!” the asshole whined; and God, hasn’t anyone ever told him that there was nothing attractive about a grown man sounding like a fucking six-year-old told to share his favorite toy.

“What?” Brian sniggered; Asshole just scowled at his obvious mirth. “Can’t deal with the truth? You know, it’s actually nice not being the asshole for once in this situation.”

“Whatever,” Justin cut in, ignoring the bitchy stare Asshole sent his way; he just wanted to be done with this before it could deteriorate into acidic banter between the two friends. “Just turn the music down or I go to Ben.”

“Why should I?” Asshole asked belligerently, making Justin want to walk up and pop him in the nose. But he figured the resulting whine fest would be much worse than the music so, again, he refrained. Brian just arched a brow and rolled his eyes.

“Because it’s nearly fucking ten at night and _some_ of us have an exam first thing in the morning.” Justin spat between grit teeth; and then moaned and pressed his hand to his temple when pain spiked behind his eyes again.

“Mikey, turn the fucking music down,” Brian ordered, all levity gone from his expression as he peered down into Justin’s face. “You okay?”

“Just a headache,” Justin waved him off; but Brian wasn’t having any of it. He grabbed Justin by the neck and began rubbing the knotted muscles.

And Justin wanted to do nothing more than to rest his head against the brunet’s chest and let him work his magic until Justin was an incomprehensible puddle of goo. But music. Which was still pounding away in the room; and judging by the looks from people passing the open doorway, he wasn’t the only one fed up by it. So, Justin fixed a glare onto Asshole, (he refused to call him Mikey), and continued through clenched teeth.

“Which likely would have gone away by now, if _someone_ had fucking listened and turned the music down the first time I asked him to.”

“Fuck you,” Asshole spat, glaring at Justin for all he was worth.

“Not in a million years, dickwad,” Justin said, looking the other man over with a snide smile; he supposed he was cute in a boy-next-door sort of way, but his attitude killed any shred of attractiveness he may have had. “I’d rather have my dick shrivel up and fall off.”

Brian snorted at the comment; but quickly sobered when he caught Asshole’s offended glare.

“Enough,” Brian commanded; and then he shook his head and it sounded like he muttered something that sounded like, _’surrounded by fucking drama princesses,’_ but Justin couldn’t be sure. He glared at him nonetheless; which Brian blithely ignored.

“Mikey, don’t be a dick. Turn the fucking music down; it’s nearly curfew anyways,” he continued and glared at Asshole until he reluctantly did so; then he turned to Justin, his expression softening with sympathy. Not an emotion he wanted from him, but he’d take it right now.  “As for you; let’s find you some Tylenol, Taylor.”

“Can’t,” Justin muttered, rubbing his hand over his eyes. “Allergic to it.”

Brian stared at him in complete bewilderment, “How the fuck is anyone…” But he trailed off when Justin just shrugged; it’s not like he had any say in what his body decided was poison and therefore must be attacked. “Okay, fine, what about Aspirin; will that work?” Justin nodded and then winced when that made his head hurt even worse. “Good; let’s go.”

“But Brian…” Asshole whined; and seriously, he was just seconds away from being mincemeat if he didn’t can it with the whining. There was only so much of it that Justin was willing to tolerate.

Brian was obviously immune to it, however, as he just waved Asshole off like this happened every day. And based on the petulant expression on his face, it likely did. God, how did Brian put up with it? If Daphne had even thought of whining as much as this man-child, he would have gone all tough love on her and told her to grow some fucking balls.

And then he’d die, because Daphne was vicious when she was fucked off. But he’d do it for the good of mankind, even if it meant poking the sleeping tiger.

“Later Mikey,” Brian called as he ushered Justin out the door; and Justin could feel Asshole’s malevolent glare stabbing him in the back of the neck; but fuck him. If he’d been decent and just turned the music down in the first place, his best friend would still be sitting in his room, listening to him whine. “I’ll see you at Ma’s for Sunday dinner.”

And with that Brian closed the door on Asshole’s bitching and steered Justin down the hall, his hand firmly planted on the nape of his neck.

“He’s your brother?” Justin asked incredulously, trying to parse his mind around the idea that this divine creature somehow got stuck with _that_ for a sibling.

Brian snorted; okay, maybe not.

“Nope; we’ve been best friends since we were fourteen,” he said as he led him over to Ben’s door; and then pulled Justin against his chest when they stopped in front of it. “But his mother practically raised me, so I always call her Ma.”

Justin just made a muffled sound of acknowledgement and buried his face into Brian’s chest; and he really wished he could enjoy the way Brian’s breath hitched at the movement. But alas, headache from hell. Brian wrapped his arm around his shoulder and held him there for a moment before knocking on the door, which, thankfully, opened right away.

“Hey Ben, you have any Aspirin?” Brian greeted. Justin couldn’t help wondering how they knew each other; especially as he knew Ben was a literature major and Brian was in the business program. But the thought slipped away quickly. “Taylor here has a bitch of a headache and he can’t take Tylenol due to his allergies.”

“Uh, no,” Ben said, and Justin could feel his gaze on him, but he didn’t look up. “I have Motrin?”

“Justin?” Brian asked, obviously wondering if that was safe for him to take; instead of answering, he simply nodded and snuggled further into Brian’s chest.

What? He might be in pain, but he wasn’t above using it to his advantage.

“That would be great, Ben,” Brian said, answering for Justin as he smoothed his fingers along Justin’s neck.

At that point, Ben must have gone back into his room, as he could hear the rattle of a box, and then he came back and handed Brian what he could only assume were some pill packets. Justin lifted his head and, yup, that’s what they were. He turned to Ben with a weak smile.

“Thanks, Ben,” Justin said, and then nearly groaned when he detected a flash of interest in his eyes; once upon a time, he might have tapped that, but since Brian...well, no one compared.

Brian tightened his arm around him in a distinctly possessive manner, pulling Justin into his body as if to tell the other man, _‘hands fucking off; this one is mine.’_ And was that a growl? It sounded like a growl. Whatever it was, it was kinda sexy and Ben backed off real fast and wished them a good evening before quickly shutting the door.

“Yeah, thanks, Bruckner,” Brian muttered to the closed door and then gently led Justin back down the hall to his room. “Let’s go get you settled, Picasso. And if Mikey is still blaring his music, I’ll beat his ass for you.”

Justin snorted, but allowed himself to be led away. They entered his still open doorway, and he cringed at the realization that he’d forgotten to close it. Luckily, nothing seemed amiss. Thank God. He didn’t need Ethan bitching at him right now if something were to turn up missing or damaged.

Leading him to his bed, Brian settled him down on it and then walked over to a mini-fridge that had definitely seen better days, and pulled out a bottle of water. He walked back over, opened the pill packets, and handed him four, along with the opened bottle of water. Justin hesitated instinctually, normally not one to take an open bottle or pills from someone he barely knew, but shook it off as he’d been watching Brian the entire time.

And even if he hadn’t, he was surprised to note that he trusted this man to keep him safe.

Justin took the pills and drank most of the water; then he handed the bottle to Brian, who capped it and set it on the nightstand. He watched as Brian crawled onto his bed, wondering what he was planning to do. An answer that came immediately as Brian leaned back against the headboard and gestured to Justin, who was still sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Come here,” Brian said softly; Justin sighed and crawled between Brian’s legs and then flipped around until his head was resting against Brian’s chest.

Without a word, Brian ran his hands soothingly over Justin’s neck and then began to gently, and methodically, knead Justin’s scalp, temples, and neck, massaging out any knots that had built up over the day. Justin sighed in contentment as the competent hands working on his tense muscles, and the meds he’d taken, finally started to do their job and the pain seemed to melt away slowly, but surely.

“God, that feels good,” Justin groaned a few minutes later as he tipped his head back, his body warm and pliant against the other man.

“Does it?” Brian asked against his ear, his touches gentling until they were more like caresses; and Justin bit his lip as those warm, slightly callused hands slid over his skin, teasing the sensitive areas behind his ears and at the nape of his neck.

“Yeah,” he murmured, stifling a gasp as Brian’s nose nuzzled his temple, and soft lips brushed over the shell of his ear, his hot breath puffing against it.

Justin stiffened for an entirely new reason now, his nerves zinging as a playful tongue flicked out and tasted the skin at the hollow behind his ear. Fuck, how was it possible for him to be so completely relaxed one second, and then in the next want to toss this man on his back and have his way with him.

Licking his lips, Justin arched and cocked his head to the side, to give Brian better access to his neck. Brian huffed softly, but obliged him, pressing soft kisses along his jaw, his hands running over his hair, cheeks, jaw and neck, anywhere he could find skin making Justin aquirm and gasp, especially when one hand slid down the front of his shirt. God, he just wanted this man to touch him forever.

“Think you’re good to lie down now?” Brian asked, his voice husky as he gently raked his nails across Justin’s chest.

“Yeah,” Justin said breathlessly, groaning at the loss of those hands on his body, even if it were just for a moment.

“Good,” Brian whispered as he lowered Justin to the bed and stretched out along his side, his very interested cock pressing against Justin’s hip as he cradled his head in one hand and hovered over Justin.

Justin studied him silently, his eyes running over his face and halting at Brian’s lips for a moment before catching Brian’s eyes. God they were gorgeous; they looked almost green in this light, shot through with bronze and gold. They stared at each other for a few heartbeats before Brian slowly lowered his head, as if waiting to see if Justin would move or push him away.

Justin closed his eyes, and his breathing hitched when Brian pressed his lips to his brow, and then kissed each of his eyelids, and then his nose and then seemed to hover over his lips. His nerves crackled with anticipation as the moment drew out and he was just about to breakdown and crush his lips to Brian’s, when the other man spoke hesitantly.

“Justin...?”

He opened his eyes, and felt them nearly crossing as he tried to study Brian’s face since it was so close, but he did see enough to realize he was asking for permission. Likely because he didn’t want to take advantage due to Justin’s earlier incapacitation. 

“Yes, please…” Justin whispered, tilting his mouth a bit, and inhaling sharply when Brian’s lips lowered and just barely brushed against his.

Justin groaned and sunk his fingers into Brian’s hair, quivering in anticipation of what was to come, when the door slammed open. Cursing under his breath, Justin was so ready to kill his roommate for his inopportune arrival; especially when Brian huffed in displeasure and dropped his head to Justin’s shoulder in resignation.

“Fuck,” Justin quietly groused, tipping his head to the ceiling. “I fucking hate people.”

Brian chuckled at his obvious frustration; he lifted his head up, his eyes still blown with lust as he grinned at Justin, and whispered, “Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” Justin reluctantly agreed, shooting a scathing look Ethan’s way. He didn’t know how he did it, but the little asshole always seemed to know when Justin was about to get lucky and showed his unwelcome face

“Later,” Brian whispered; he pressed his lips to Justin’s, and then scrambled up and walked out the door, blatantly ignoring a glaring Ethan.

“Later,” Justin whispered, touching his mouth as he watched Brian walk out the door.

Huffing, Justin fell back against his bed, still harder than a rock and viciously thought of all the ways he could kill Ethan for his interruption. There was a reason that Justin usually went to his conquests’ places, rather than come back here. The fucker never seemed to understand the dorm code of do not enter when there was a tie on the door.

Granted, he hadn’t done that this time, but still; the slimy, little weasel could have left once he realized Justin was ‘busy.’.

“Well, didn’t you look cozy?” Ethan spat as he threw his bag on his bed and picked up his violin case.

And fuck if Justin was going to put up with his jealous, spiteful ass tonight.

“Fuck off, Ethan,” Justin sneered, turning his back to the whiny pain in his ass. “And do try to be quiet; I’m going to bed.”

“But I have to practice…” Ethan said, holding up his case

Although, why he thought he’d get away with it when it was after curfew, Justin didn’t know and didn’t care. He hadn’t put the kibosh on thumpa-thumpa man to just have his roommate fry his nerves with that caterwauling he called music. Truthfully, it sounded like a mix between cats yowling and nails scraping across a blackboard most of the time.

“Then use the fucking studios,” Justin said, flicking an impatient glare over his shoulder. “That’s what they are there for.”

“Whatever,” Ethan muttered; he gathered up his bag once more and stormed out of the room with it and his violin, slamming the door in his wake.

“Yeah, whatever.” Justin muttered, rolling his eyes at his roommate’s dramatics. He sighed, cupped his dick and gave it a rueful squeeze. “Fuck; at this rate, my dick is going to fall off due to blue balls before I can even do anything fun with it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Prompts:** Justin POV; asshole neighbors/roommates; The asshole next door has his music up too loud while Justin’s trying to study and he goes to bitch him out only to find Brian there.


	6. With Friends Like These

**With Friends Like These**

"Soooo," Emmett drawled as he dropped into the seat next to Brian, startling the latter out of his thoughts. "A little birdie told me that you caved to the Taylor charm."

Brian sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, so not in the mood to deal with Emmett's penchant for gossip today of all days; especially as he was still strung taut as a wire due to the last two sexually-charged meetings with the subject at hand.

As it was, he barely got any sleep last night, tossing and turning as he remembered soft skin under his hands and the way Justin's body molded to his. The way he smelled – a hint of sandalwood mixed with citrus and maybe even almonds. The way he tasted when their lips brushed for that fraction of a second – salty mixed with something sweet that he couldn't identify. And fuck, the soft, kittenish sounds he made in the back of his throat when Brian had had his hands on him…

He was getting hard just thinking about it.

Which had been precisely his problem this morning, and why he ran out of his room as if his tail was on fire. Sitting there in his bed, a bed exactly like the one he'd been in last night with Justin, he'd played that scene over and over in his mind until he was hard, aching and leaking pre-come. He'd remembered palming his cock through his jeans and groaning as he'd imagined it was a different hand, one with long, artistic, fingers on it.

God, he hadn't gotten off that fast since he'd first discovered that his dick was his new favorite toy; just the thought of Justin alone was enough to set him off. And that had scared the shit out of him. Because he'd met and fucked plenty of gorgeous men; and even more recently, he had turned several gorgeous men down without a thought or a twinge of regret because he had more important things on his mind.

But this, admittedly beautiful, kid had become like a fever in his blood and he couldn't stop thinking about him no matter how hard he tried.

It was enough to send him running though.

If he had stayed in his room, he'd known that eventually, he would break all the rules he'd made for his last year of school and track the kid down. And then he'd fuck the shit out of him on the nearest horizontal or vertical surface. It didn't really matter as long as he was buried inside that amazing ass.

So, he ran, like the coward he totally admits he is, and arrived much too early for his Ethics Class. But he figured that if he was in a classroom setting, he might just be able to focus on his studies rather than imagining all the things he'd like to do to Justin's ass.

And so far…it had been a complete and utter failure.

He was so fucked; and not in the fun, life affirming way. Yet.

"I'm merely helping him with his art project," Brian said with a bland smile; which, he _was_ helping Justin with that, so it wasn't a complete lie.

"Oh, please," Emmett snorted, dismissing Brian's pat answer with a wave of his hand; it sucked when your friends knew you better than you knew yourself at times. "Don't deny you're obsessed with that cute little tush."

"The 'tush,' as you called it, is admittedly excellent," Brian conceded with a small nod; because it was and he'd be the last to deny it. "And really? Tush? What are we, in grade school? Just call it an ass."

"Well, there is no need to be uncouth," Emmett sniffed haughtily as he pulled out his books and organized his papers on the table.

"Whatever," Brian muttered, rolling his eyes. "As I said, I'm only helping him with a project; if anyone is enamored of an ass, it would be ihim/i given that he's using mine as a model."

"Like you weren't drooling over said ass for weeks before he even noticed you," Ted snorted as he sat down on Brian's other side.

Brian grimaced as he recalled that Ted had been present the first time he'd ever seen Justin and witnessed Brian stopping dead in his tracks as he watched that perfect bubble butt bounce its way across the lawn. It had taken Brian a full minute to realize that Ted had been speaking to him after that; not a moment he wanted known to all.

"Theodore?" Brian sneered, casting his friend the evil eye.

"Yes, Brian?" Ted asked by rote, although he surely had to know what was coming by the way he winced.

"Shut up," Brian said, smirking when Ted just nodded in resignation.

Brian looked back at his books, his mind wandering to his current predicament and totally missing the knowing looks being exchanged over his head. So much for finding other things to occupy his mind with; there was no way he could avoid the topic of Justin when Honeycutt was on the trail of juicy gossip.

"You have to admit, he iis/i beautiful," Emmett mused after a few minutes.

"Agreed," Ted nodded; a bit too enthusiastically for Brian's tastes. "If I wasn't dating Blake, and I thought for one second that he'd give me the time of day; I'd fuck him."

Brian scowled, but remained silent.

"And his ass... truly a work of art; like a succulent, ripe peach just waiting to be plucked…" Emmett continued with a low whistle of appreciation.

"And just how would _you_ know anything about his ass," Brian asked, his hackles rising as he stared at the self-proclaimed nelly Queen.

"Took a spin class with him once," Emmett confided, fanning himself in memory. "Saw him in the showers; trust me, I wasn't the only one who couldn't keep my eyes off him. That's how I knew my Drewsie wasn't nearly as straight as he professed himself to be."

Emmett preened for a moment as he thought of his boyfriend, but sobered quickly when he saw Brian's impatient glare cast his way.

"Not that Justin noticed," Emmett snorted. "That boy can be truly oblivious when he wants to be." He paused and then cast a sly smirk towards Brian and Ted. "I did briefly toy with the idea of asking Drew if he wanted to share that glorious, little, bubble butt; but quickly nixed that idea as I am far too jealous to share."

"Wise move," Brian said through clenched teeth, uncertain why he was even bothered by the idea of Justin in his friend's bed.

"I wonder if Blake would…" Ted mused aloud, but quickly trailed off when Brian's head whipped his way.

"Alright, that's enough," Brian hissed, opening his notebook with a snap. "Leave the boy alone; he doesn't need to be corrupted by the likes of you horny queers."

"But he does by you?" Emmett asked, an arch smile on his face.

Brian glared at Emmett for several long moments and then turned toward the front of the room, not even bothering to dignify that with an answer as the professor walked in.

"Oh, honey; you've got it so bad," Emmett said to the table at large, garnering a snicker from Ted and a scowl from Brian. "I'm going to enjoy your fall from grace."

"Fuck off, Honeycutt," Brian sneered, and then quickly flipped his textbook open to the desired page.

"Don't call me, Honeycutt," Emmett muttered, but Brian just ignored it as he chose to focus on his class rather than perfect, blond boy asses.

… … … … …

"I can't believe you dumped me for that twink last night," Michael groused as he threw himself on the couch next to Brian.

Brian just scowled and ignored him for a few moments as he scanned the lounge once more, his eyes catching on the occasional blond head, but it was never the blond that he wanted to find. And that only made his scowl deepen as he couldn't believe that it had come down to this and Brian Kinney was actually chasing down a man; but after what he'd heard at lunch, Justin had been prominently on his mind and he had to do _something_ or go mad with curiosity.

The world must have tipped on its axis.

Not that he'd _ever_ admit that last part out loud. If his friends ever heard that he was waiting in the student lounge of Michael's building, well…between Michael's whining and Honeycutt's crowing, he'd never hear the end of it. Even Ted would be hard pressed not to do a little gloating if he were to find out.

And that was so not happening.

"Oh, get over it Mikey," Brian snapped when the whining reached epic levels.

Christ on a stick, why the fuck did he have to come to this campus? He both blessed and cursed the day Deb won that lottery. Blessed as she was set for life thanks to his skill in investing, but cursed because she he had plenty of disposable income and there was no one she liked to indulge more than Mikey. Personally, he was beginning to think that she just paid for Michael's college to keep him busy while she traveled the world with Vic.

"It's not like we were doing anything of interest. I was about to leave anyways," he continued casting a glance towards the elevators and scanning the room once more.

"Well, I hope fucking him was worth it," Michael spat, his arms crossed over his chest. "Since now, I'm likely to fail this test because you cut out early."

 _More like because you're too fucking lazy to actually pay attention or do any of the required work. The only reason you haven't been kicked out is because of Mommy's fat wallet and you manage to do the bare minimum in requirements,_ he thought snidely. He knew better than to express it aloud though. Deb may love him and may be helping him with the college expenses not covered by his scholarship, but she would still call him up and bitch him out if Mikey went whining to her about Brian's behavior.

As soon as he was through with school and paid everything back though, Mikey will need to find another patsy because he was done with it.

"Not that it's any of your business," Brian said, what little patience he had rapidly dwindling. "But I haven't had him. Yet. We're working on a project together. And if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, to go to the math center and ask for a fucking tutor. I don't have the time to bail your ass out every time you have a fucking quiz."

"But, Brian," Michael whined, tugging on his arm as if that would get him to budge. "You're my best friend; and best friends help each other…"

And Christ, if he had a dollar for every time he'd heard that phrase, he'd be richer than Midas; or well, richer than Deb at least.

"Yes, I'm your best friend," Brian snapped, yanking his arm away. "Nowhere in that statement does it imply that I'm your fucking nursemaid. If you want someone to hold your hand through college, call your Mommy. I'm sure Deb would love to relive her wild youth with you. You could go to keggers together. It would be an oh-so-sweet mother-son bonding moment."

_Sorry Deb, but there is only so much one could stand before they broke._

"Fuck you, Brian," Michael spat, his eyes flashing

"Yeah, never gonna happen, Mikey," Brian said, internally shuddering at the mere thought because _God no_ ; if he was ever drunk and high enough to give in to that, he'd never get rid of the little parasite. "Listen; are you listening? Do us both a favor and go to the fucking math center and deal with this shit on your own. I have too much on my plate to pull your ass out of the fire again."

"Oh, but you'll help that twink with his work?" Michael belligerently asked, spittle flying out of his mouth to land on the sofa between them; and thank God it didn't land on him.

"What can I say, Mikey," Brian drawled, at this point just goading his friend and daring him to go run to Deb. "When a cutie, with a bubble butt like that, asks you to pose nude for him, you jump at the chance. Maybe then, you might get laid and I wouldn't have to listen to yet another rousing round with Rosie Fucking Palms."

"Whatever," Michael muttered, throwing himself back into his seat to pout. Brian just grinned to himself as he knew Michael would back down as he usually did on these occasions. He really didn't want to admit to Deb that he was passing Professor David's class because the guy had a hard on for Michael.

Looking away from Michael, Brian scanned the room, his heart picking up in tempo as he spied a familiar mop of blonde hair, and then crashing down as he realized that the body that went with said hair was rapidly making its way out the opposite door.

"Fuck," Brian swore under his breath, jumping to his feet in an instant.

"What?" Michael sneered, still pouting like the overgrown two year old he is.

"I just missed him! Again! Thanks a lot, Michael." Brian said, scowling at the other man for all he was worth before turning on his heel.

Brian swiftly crossed the room and made his way out the door, blatantly ignoring Michael's cries for attention behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Prompts:** Brian POV; Day after they almost kiss; "Don't deny you're obsessed with that cute little tush.


	7. Family Connections

**Family Connections**

**Family Connections**

Justin stared off into space dreamily, his chin propped in his hand, which in turn was propped on one of the very comfy pillows in his and Daph's favorite coffee shop. His lips still tingled from last night. He was completely ignoring Daphne, but he couldn't help it. He kept replaying that far too brief kiss and Brian's parting words in his mind, setting his heart and stomach fluttering anew.

It was a good thing that today had been a free period of sorts in his Life Painting class. The instructor had told them to feel free to work on anything they hadn't finished in a previous class, or even work on something of their own, as long as it involved the human form. He would've never been able to concentrate in class with everything on his mind.

No guesses needed on who he chose as his subject.

Justin still couldn't get the image of Brian standing in his studio in nothing but a pair of black briefs, his muscles rippling as he subtly moved to stay comfortable. Justin had wanted to throw his pad down then and there and lick a hot path up those glorious abs, up to his nipples and then suck them into little peaks as he watched the pleasure filter over Brian's face.

Licking his lips, he squirmed in his seat, and leaned forward to take a long drag off his cookies and cream milkshake, his cheeks hollowing in an effort to suck the thick liquid through the straw. God, that was so good. Dipping his spoon into the whipped cream, he slowly slid it into his mouth, his eyes closing in pleasure as the taste of fresh cream burst over his tongue.

Pulling the spoon out of his mouth, Justin opened his eyes and licked the spoon thoroughly to make sure he'd gotten every last drop, coloring when he noticed Daphne watching him with a dazed look on her face. Dropping the spoon to the table, Justin looked away, slightly embarrassed as he realized how that must have looked to anyone watching him; Daph had chided him more than once on his unintentionally seductive food habits.

"So, have you kissed him yet?" Daphne asked, demurely sipping from her caramel frozen coffee drink, her eyes gleaming with mischief.

"No…yes…not really?" Justin cocked his head to the side and tried to figure out how to explain it; they had kissed in a way, but not in the way Daphne was meaning.

"So what is it?" Daphne prodded, nudging Justin's leg with her foot.

They were both sitting on their favorite loveseat, the one they commandeered at the same time every Wednesday, shoes off and feet up for their weekly bitch and gossip fest. It had become so routine, that everyone left the loveseat open at this time and if anyone was sitting on it, they were quickly informed by the regulars that they needed to move. It was kind of embarrassing actually, as he and Daphne had never expected preferential treatment.

"We haven't kissed in the way you mean," Justin said, swirling his straw in his milkshake to loosen it up a bit; He pressed his finger to the top of the straw and drew it out, letting the milkshake dribble into his mouth before putting it back in. Licking his lips clean, he continued. "I think we would have last night, but fucking Ethan showed up just before we were going to. Again. Why the fuck did I agree to room with him?"

"I have no fucking idea," Daphne said, rolling her eyes at the familiar complaint. "I tried to warn you that you'd end up regretting it, but you wouldn't listen to me. You just kept on and on about how he seemed nice and rooming with a fellow artist would be much better than dealing with that archaeology student that kept bringing weird shit into your room."

"He was nice," Justin said, just a shade petulantly.

And Ethan had been at first. Justin had been painting in his studio, completely wrapped up in what he was doing, when his friend and studio mate Eric had walked in with Ethan, looking for one of his sketch pads. Ethan had been charming and funny and Justin had liked him immediately, even agreeing to be his roommate this year when he asked several months later. Boy, had that been a mistake.

"Yeah, until he tried climbing into your bed one night," Daphne snorted, rolling her eyes as she took another sip of her coffee. "Please tell me you didn't believe that 'I was drunk and confused' bullshit. Because that boy has had a hard-on for you since before you got a room together."

"Why didn't you tell me then?" Justin asked, a bit annoyed that Daphne hadn't warned him of his stalker-in-training.

"I thought it was obvious with the way he was practically drooling on your ass," Daphne scoffed, giving Justin an 'are you kidding me' look.

"I…I didn't notice," Justin said, flushing as he realized he must have been pretty damned oblivious not to have picked up on the other man's interest; unless Ethan had been careful not to show it much until it was too late to change room assignments.

He doubted it though, as it was a complaint he'd gotten often from potential suitors.

"You never do," Daphne muttered, scowling into her drink. "It's one of your most endearing, as well as one of your most frustrating, traits."

"I'm sorry, Daph," Justin said, still feeling bad that he had never picked up on her crush.

Not that there was a whole lot that he could have done to ease her mind about it. You know, being gay and all; but he would have, at the very least, been a bit more discreet about his conquests out of deference to her feelings.

"Meh." Daphne shrugged and dismissed his concerns with a wave of her hand. "I'm over it. I decided crushing on a gay boy was far too much heartbreak in the making and made you my best friend instead."

"That makes sense," Justin said dryly, his tone implying anything but logical thinking.

"It does," Daphne insisted, a smirk on her face. "By getting to you early, I have firmly established myself as your first and most faithful fag hag."

"And what a wonderful fag hag you are," Justin granted and bumped his fist to hers when she held it out; she truly was his best friend.

"Exactly," Daphne said imperiously, and then flashed a sly grin. "Which is why you are going to tell me everything that happened last night. I need the deets as I am a poor, lonely girl with nobody to love and therefore must live vicariously through your love life."

"I find it faintly disturbing that at any time you might just be imagining my sex life while getting off," Justin said, shuddering at the mere thought of Daphne doing anything to pleasure herself; girl parts, ick.

"What?" Daphne asked, arching a brow as Justin just shook his head incredulously. "I can appreciate two beautiful men kissing and all that other stuff. Dish!"

Justin rolled his eyes, but knew there was no way of him getting out of it. Daphne was annoyingly persistent, even going as far as to record messages onto a tape recorder just in case her voice ever went out. Which it hadn't yet, as Justin usually caved before it had gotten to that point. But still, she was prepared in the event that Justin tried to out stubborn her one day. Better to just give her what she wanted.

It was less of a headache that way.

"Well it started when Asshole next door was blasting his music while I was trying to study," Justin sighed, rolling his eyes as Daphne squealed and snuggled back into one of the overstuffed couch arms like a child waiting for a bedtime story.

"Why didn't you go to the library?" She asked, confused as to why he was in his room; she'd heard plenty of horror stories of Asshole being…well, an asshole. Plus there was the whole Ethan thing. So, she knew Justin usually avoided his room like the plague.

"Because it was nearly closing time and I had a headache from hell," Justin explained; Daphne grimaced, casting a commiserating glance his way.

"Ah," Daphne said, and then made an imperious gesture with her hand. "Proceed."

"Yes my liege," Justin intoned gravely, snickering when she shoved him with her foot. "So, I went next door, banged on it to tell Asshole to knock it the fuck off before I got Ben and guess who answered the door?"

"Brian?" Daphne asked, her eyes lighting up with unholy glee. Justin just shook his head and wondered why he was cursed with far too many interfering females in his life.

"Got it in one," Justin nodded, taking a long suck of his milkshake, his brow furrowing and cheeks hollowing as he determinedly sucked a piece of cookie up the straw.

Daphne rolled her eyes at his antics, but waited for him to finish as she knew it did no good to point out that it would be easier if he just scooped the damned piece of cookie up with his spoon. But Justin only did that as a last resort. He set the shake aside and took another scoop of whipped cream, once again enjoying the taste, until Daphne huffed and shoved him with her foot once more.

"So, after a bit of an argument with Asshole, who turns out to be his best friend," Justin paused when Daphne groaned at that tidbit. "Yeah seriously; I almost said hell no and ran the other way; but…" Justin paused again, a small smile on his face. "But then he realized that I was in pain and went all man in charge, ordering Asshole to turn the fucking music down and ushered me off to Ben for some meds, which I wish I had thought about before then; and then he marched me back to my room and took care of me, and I was just fucking lost at that point."

"Ooooo," Daphne squealed in glee, a dreamy smile on her face. "The protective type. I so love it when they get all commanding and protective like that. Seriously, you have all the fucking luck; except for when it comes to dorm mates. You suck at that."

Justin rolled his eyes, but couldn't help silently agreeing with Daphne's assessment; between Asshole Neighbor, Creepy Skull Guy and Stalker-in-Training, he really did have shit luck when it came to dorm mates.

"So after he makes me take the meds and drink some water, he climbs into my bed," Justin paused again when Daphne made an excited squeak. "Not like that. Well, not at first. Anyways, so, he starts giving me this killer neck and head massage, and oh my God, his hands are to die for; seriously, I want them all over my body."

"Lucky bitch," Daphne muttered, a disgruntled moue on her face.

"I will drink to that," Justin snickered, toasting her with his milkshake. Daphne flipped him off. "And then we were laying there and he kissed my eyes and nose and cheeks and we were just about to kiss for real when that asshole Ethan barged in. I swear, it's like he has some sort of alert system in place that tells him when I'm getting lucky."

"Maybe he does," Daphne said with a shrug. Justin stared at her incredulously, but Daphne just looked concerned. "No, seriously, Jus; it's not like there is much privacy in the dorms, so maybe he has someone alert him that you have someone in the room."

"That's just creepy," Justin said, the idea making him shudder. He'd been mostly joking with the stalker-in-training label, but the way Daphne made it sound, it was more like it was a reality than just a macabre internal joke.

"It's Ethan," Daphne said with a pointed look.

"I don't even want to think about that right now or I'll never be able to sleep at night," Justin shuddered again and vowed to booby trap his bed if that little prick even thought of coming anywhere near him again. "Anyways, so, he bursts in, which kills the mood pretty fast and Brian leaves, but not before he does kiss me softly on the lips and promises to see me today."

"Oooohhhhhh…" Daphne stared at him dreamily. "So, how was it?"

"Amazing," Justin grinned, flashing that wide smile that Daphne swore lit up the room; he closed his eyes and thought back to last night. "His lips are so soft, yet firm at the same time, and so warm; and God, he smells amazing – like vanilla and sandalwood and apples. And when our lips touched, it was like electricity shot down my spine."

"I reiterate, lucky bitch," Daphne grumbled, disgruntled once again that her love life was barren at the moment. "So, you're going to see him tonight?"

"Yeah, we need to work on the…" Justin said, trailing off when he was suddenly hit over the head with a cushion. Huffing, Justin looked up with an annoyed frown, only to meet his cousin Cynthia's flashing blue eyes. He flinched, knowing that whatever had pissed her off wouldn't be good for him as she tended to hold a grudge.

"Why didn't you tell me that dickhead kicked you out?" Cynthia demanded, her hands pressed firmly on her hips.

Oh fuck; how the hell had she found out about that? He'd made certain that no one in his family knew the exact details of him moving into the dorms. He'd fended most of the questions off by saying he just wanted to try the dorm experience; and then, when no one said anything after about a year, he thought he was safe.

"Because your cousin is an idiot who didn't want to cause friction in the family for his mother and his sister's sake?" Daphne asked rhetorically, a vicious smile on her face. She'd never agreed with how Justin had handled the whole Craig incident and felt Craig needed to be strung up by his balls. "Hey, Cyn; how have you been?

"I was doing much better until I heard through the rumor mill that that asshole had the nerve to kick my favorite cousin to the curb," Cynthia spat, her arms crossed over her chest. She tapped her foot and stared at Justin heatedly. "And _then_ realized that said cousin hadn't mentioned a thing the last few times we talked."

"I just didn't want to upset you," Justin explained weakly, knowing that there was no excuse that he could give that would win Cynthia over; she'd always hated Craig and his airs, pretending that he was WASP when he'd only married one. There was no way she'd cut him any slack. "I didn't want you storming over to the house and.."

"Kicking him in the balls like he so rightly deserves?" Cynthia huffed.

"Yeah, that," Justin said wryly. "Not that I care about him, but you know that Mom wouldn't have heard the end of it and Molly…"

"Would be fine," Cynthia stated, her eyes blazing. Justin cringed and made himself as small as possible on the couch; he knew Cyn was right. "Because Grandfather would have made it fine and well you know it. So, what was the real reason? And the words 'I was too embarrassed to let anyone know of my predicament' better not come out of your mouth or I will smack you upside the head. You know damn well that you are the favorite and everyone would have rallied around you if they knew."

Justin smiled sheepishly knowing she'd hit the nail on the head.

"You are an idiot," Cynthia huffed, shoving Justin's legs off the couch and sitting down. "You're lucky I love you or else I would seriously kick your ass."

"I'm sorry, Cyn," Justin said in a meek voice; and he was sorry he'd held the information back from her. "I just didn't want to cause problems for Mom and Molly."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about it," Cynthia said, looking like the cat that'd caught the canary; which made Daphne sit up with curiosity.

"Oh, God, what did you do?" Justin asked, almost dreading the answer; he knew how vindictive Cynthia could be when someone hurt one of her loved ones. And since she couldn't stand Craig in the first place, he could only imagine the mischief she'd wrought.

"Well, I had lunch with Grandfather the other day," Cynthia said with a smirk, pausing when Justin groaned and buried his face into a pillow. "Oh, get over it; someone needed to do something. Be glad it was me and not my Mother. You know what she's like."

"Oh dear God in heaven," Justin sat up straight as a poker, a horrified look on his face. If any one thought that Cynthia could hold a grudge, they'd never met his aunt. She took it to the fucking grave. Once you fucked up, there was no second chance with her. She would find a way to end you. "Aunt Muriel knows?"

"Oh, does she ever," Cynthia snickered. "I'd really hate to be in Craig's shoes right now. Anyways, I had lunch with Grandfather and may have accidentally let it slip what Craig did and why; and then I may have said that I found it interesting that he had the nerve to throw stones for so-called immoral behavior when he was fucking his secretary, and half of Pittsburgh to boot, behind Aunt Jen's back."

"Oh fuck," Justin whispered, very much in awe, and a bit terrified, of his cousin's vengeance. Jesus, she doesn't pull punches.

"Yeah, it's safe to say that Craig will be far too busy trying to consolidate his wealth and scrambling to make ends meet once Grandfather calls that note he signed due." Cynthia nonchalantly studied her nails as if she hadn't just bankrupted his father with a single action. "You have to love those little fidelity clauses our family loves to throw in."

"But Mom…" Justin trailed off, worried that his mother would get caught up in the backlash; he'd never wanted his mother to get hurt, even if he wasn't speaking to her at the moment for staying with his asshole father.

"Is finally divorcing the asshole as she should have done years ago," Cynthia said with an implacable smile. "Honey, you should know by now that we take care of our own."

"I know, I just…" Justin trailed off again, his throat constricting and his eyes misting; he'd spent much of the past year worried his family would react like Craig did when they found out. Knowing that he had their support no matter what…he didn't have the words to express just how much that meant to him.

"Got a bit lost and hurt and forgot for awhile," Cynthia said softly, drawing him into her arms. "I know; but we will always stand by you; you are the one we love, not Craig."

"Thanks, Cyn," Justin murmured, his voice thick with unshed tears as he pulled away and laid back against the couch. Cynthia stood, allowing him to put his feet back up, and grabbed a nearby arm chair to sit in.

"By the way," Cynthia said, making herself comfortable. "You've been summoned for lunch this weekend; and don't even think you can get out of it by using school as an excuse as you have done recently. Grandmother isn't taking no for an answer."

"Oh shit," Justin groaned, dropping an arm over his face; he was in so much trouble if his Grandmother was sending Cynthia with the summons.

"Yeah, I'd grovel if I were you," Cynthia snickered, picking at a piece of lint on her sweater. "Be sure to bring her a box of her favorite chocolates _and_ flowers because she is not happy."

"I am so dead," Justin muttered, his life flashing before his eyes; if it had been his Grandfather, he could have talked his way out of his absence, but his Grandmother was another matter entirely. She ruled the family with an iron fist and you just did not cross her if you wanted to still be breathing the next morning.

"Although, if you brought your new beau with you, that might just distract her enough to keep her from skinning you alive," Cynthia said with a sly smile; letting on that she'd overheard all the important parts of his and Daphne's conversation. "You know, like that guy you were just raving about… So, tell me little cousin, who is this man with the wondrous lips?"

"Oh, God; someone shoot me now," Justin groaned again, burying his face into the pillow Cynthia had used to beat him over the head with; if Cyn knew then it meant that his Grandmother would know by this weekend and he'd never get any peace.

Cynthia must have decided she was done torturing him for the moment, however; as she struck up a conversation with Daphne and allowed him to wallow in his upcoming doom. Justin sighed and sat up, deciding that since he couldn't do anything about the lunch with his grandparents, other than grovel as Cyn pointed out, he was going to enjoy the rest of his milkshake if it was the last thing he did.

Justin grabbed his shake and took a long swallow, once again hollowing out his cheeks as sucked down about a quarter of it all in one breath. He licked his lips and then side of the glass as a small amount had sloshed over the side when he grabbed. Closing his eyes, he hummed with pleasure and then grabbed his spoon, deciding to eat it that way so that he could savor it a little longer.

Sucking the spoon into his mouth, he slurped down the cream and then pulled the spoon out with an audible pop; he licked up the sides, where the cream and shake had dripped down and then sucked one finger in at a time to clean them of any residual sweetness. Dipping his spoon again, Justin happily lapped at the end, sucking more of the cream into his mouth, and accidentally smearing over his lips.

Sighing in contentment, Justin licked his lips, digging his tongue into the corner of his mouth to get that last little stubborn bit that clung to them. And then he tipped the glass back, taking the cherry in to his mouth, only slightly disappointed that there was no stem. He dug his spoon into the glass to gather the remains of his shake and then set the cup aside, blatantly ignoring his cousin and Daphne.

"Does he even realize what he's doing?" Cynthia asked in a funny voice.

"Nope," Daphne huffed in an annoyed tone. "It's rather sickening isn't it?"

Justin just huffed, but didn't bother to say anything; he was far too intent on enjoying the last bits of his shake. Sucking the spoon into his mouth, he was cleaning it of any residual stickiness when something heavy fell on him knocking the breath out of him and sending the spoon flying across the room.

Justin sucked in several deep, labored breaths as the person, the very male person, on top of him wriggled and squirmed, inadvertently waking up a certain body part. Justin looked up in a daze, trying to tell the guy to stop moving and then froze when a vaguely familiar face stared back at him in mortified surprise.

But he couldn't place where he'd seen him before.

The man managed to find purchase and sit up, but not before Justin felt his very firm erection digging into this hip, and, if the man's fiery cheeks were anything to go by, his accident-prone friend had felt his own waking up and taking interest. Justin huffed, still dazed and out of breath, and grabbed the man's hips so he would stop wiggling around in his lap and making it worse. Especially as the embarrassed man was too busy apologizing to notice what he was doing to Justin's very attentive dick.

"Sorry," the man cried, running his hands all over Justin, and really, that wasn't at all helpful to Justin's little problem. "Sorry. Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I should have been watching where I was going and I tripped over a bag and Oh my God…are you okay? I didn't injure you did I? Do you hurt anywhere? Oh God, you aren't saying anything…I…"

Justin tried to tell the other man that he was fine, but as he was still wheezing from having all the air squeezed out of his lungs, all he could do was hold up his hands in a placating gesture. But then it wasn't a problem as someone swooped down and practically yanked the other man out of Justin's lap.

"Let's go, Theodore," an implacable voice demanded, dragging the stammering man away. But Justin was too busy trying to get air back into his lungs to even notice his savior, or thank him for rescuing him.

When Justin finally got his breathing under control once more, he looked up to find Daphne and Cynthia watching him with identical amused smirks. Justin huffed and stood, looking down to find that he'd spilled a bit of shake on his shirt. Shaking his head, he gathered his things and thought of the vilest things he could, like a naked Asshole Neighbor demanding he fuck him in his whiny voice, until his dick finally calmed.

"So, you should stick around," Daphne said to Cynthia a knowing smile on her face. "You can stay with me. Things are about to get interesting around here."

"I can't imagine any place I'd rather be," Cynthia grinned, casting a funny expression Justin's way.

Justin just huffed and slung his bag over his shoulder, not even wanting to know what that was all about. "I have to go change; I'll see you guys later."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Prompts:** Location: coffee shop with couches and stuff for to make it easier to dish and to be accidentally overheard; milkshake with whipped cream and a cherry on top; unknowingly eating the whipped cream in a seductive manner, which causes Ted to trip and fall on Justin, knocking the wind out of him; Bonus if Brian sees.


	8. The Hunter Becomes the Prey

**The Hunter Becomes the Prey**

Brian threw down his pen and huffed; he'd been in the library for the past two hours and he still hadn't been able to get a damned thing done because his mind was still wrapped around a certain blond. The way Justin had overtaken his consciousness was really starting to get to him, but the blond didn't seem to want to relinquish his hold any time soon.

After seeing Justin leaving his dorm – where he'd originally followed him after the coffee shop incident, missing a class in the process, which was something he _never_ did – Brian had looked for him for a good hour, but couldn't seem to catch up to the little twat. Fucking Mikey. He was always there, interfering with his love life; and it was starting to grate something fierce. And if he didn't watch out, Michael was going to be on the outs far sooner than Brian had planned, no matter how much he loved Deb and Vic. He didn't have the time nor patience to deal with a friend that acted more like a jealous boyfriend.

But anyways, the twat had remained elusive and since Brian had missed his last class of the day because of him and his fucking spoon; he'd decided to make-up for that lack by studying for the lecture he'd missed. But it wasn't working because his mind kept wandering back to that infernal coffee shop and Justin's unconsciously erotic floor show.

 

_Brian pushed his way through the crowd pouring out the doors of the HuggaMug Cafe, slightly irritated that Ted had wanted to meet here of all places. Typically, Brian wouldn't have been caught dead in such a cutesy establishment, preferring the more sober The Split Bean, and he usually avoided it like the plague; but since it wasn't his dime, he couldn't really say no._

_Sighing, Brian prayed for strength and just managed to not cringe as he walked through the outdoor dining area, the bright colors and chaotic design searing his eyes. What the fuck the owners had been thinking when they designed this place, he had no idea; but he was beginning to think they were, at the very least, colorblind. It was the only explanation for the odd, mishmash of colors, not to mention their odd obsession with the color brown._

_Sliding through the door as a bunch of giggling college coeds tumbled out of it, likely heading back to the college for more classes, Brian swiftly made his way up to the coffee bar, which had weird circle cutouts covered with white screen that were lit from behind. If he had to, he would have guessed that the owners had been going for a '70s retro feel? But who really knew? It just might be that they had very poor taste when it came to decorating._

_God, he couldn't wait to get the hell out of there; he could already feel himself developing hives._

_"You just had to pick this one, didn't you?" Brian groused as he walked up to his friend and sat down on a stool next to Ted, who had been idly chatting with the barista, Todd._

_"The food and coffee is fantastic," Ted said, automatically defending his choice; he was well aware of Brian's utter disdain for the place. "I'm not sure why you dislike it so much."_

_"Maybe because the décor makes my eyeballs bleed?" Brian sneered, his lip curling as he looked around once more and shuddered, making Todd laugh._

_"I have to agree with him, Ted," Todd sniggered as he made another drink. "If the job didn't pay so well due to the tips, I likely wouldn't be able to stand being here myself. To say that the ambience is, well, lacking would be an understatement. But people seem to love it."_

_"Yeah," Brian snickered, poking Ted in the ribs. "People with no taste." Ted huffed and grumbled that he only came there for the food, but Brian paid him little attention as he turned to Michael's roommate. "How's it going, Todd?"_

_"Fine," Todd said with a giggle, likely laughing at the inside joke between them. Both of them had been frequent visitors to Babylon's backroom while Brian had been in undergrad. As well as the stacks deep in the library where college students went to 'study' intimate relations away from their nosy and far too present roommates. Thank fuck that Brian didn't have to do that anymore. And it was a typical greeting whenever they'd see each other. "We've missed you in the stacks."_

_"And I've missed being there," Brian smirked, his tongue firmly planted into his cheek. "Sadly my schedule doesn't allow for 'extra curricular activities' at this juncture; between taking nearly eighteen units and my internship, I barely have time to sleep and eat, let alone fuck anyone these days."_

_"I did hear that you have a certain blond in your sights," Todd smirked, setting the completed drink on the counter and calling out the owner's name. "Not that I blame you; Justin is gorgeous; and from what I've heard, an exquisite top. I wouldn't mind a taste of him myself if I thought he'd look my way. Sadly, the boy is oblivious."_

_"Well," Brian drawled, looking at Ted with no little amount of censure; Ted blushed and looked down at the bar. "Someone seems to have loose lips. But, I wouldn't say that I'm pursuing him per se; more like helping him with a project."_

_"So you wouldn't care that he was here and sitting on the couch over there, no more than five feet away from you," Todd teased, nodding just over Brian's left shoulder._

_Brian whipped his head around, and sure enough, curled up on the couch closest to him, his shoes off, was Justin talking to his favorite fag hag; and about something good and juicy judging by the fag hag's face. How had he missed him as he was walking in? His fag hag smirked at Brian, a knowing glint in her eyes, and then waved when Justin looked down at his drink. Brian just arched a brow and wondered what all that could be about. Todd snickered and went back to talking to Ted, but Brian didn't pay him any mind as he was far too busy tuning into the conversation between the two friends in the hopes of gleaning a few clues for the fag hag's reaction._

_"So, after he makes me take the meds and drink some water, he climbs into my bed," Justin paused when his fag-hag squeaked. "Not like that. Well, not at first. Anyways, so, he starts giving me this killer neck and head massage, and oh my God, his hands are to die for; seriously, I want them all over my body."_

_Oh, well; that made sense. Brian flushed as he realized that the person they were currently dishing on was him; and then he puffed up a bit, because of course it was him, why wouldn't it be? He was Brian Fucking Kinney. And his hands were to die for? Well, he couldn't argue with that, and he was happy to show the kid just how good they could be._

_"Lucky bitch," the fag-hag muttered with disgruntled frown; and Brian couldn't help but smirk at her reaction. Well, at least he knew he still had it, even if he held absolutely no interest in girl bits._

_And he really needed to find out her name; or come up with a nickname at the very least. The fag hag grinned at Justin, a smile that nearly rivaled his. That was it. But Sunshine wouldn't work as that was Justin's nickname. But…Dimples. Dimples would work._

_"I will drink to that," Justin snickered, toasting her with his milkshake. And much to Brian's amusement, Dimples flipped Justin the bird, glowering at her friend's smug smile. But Justin just prattled on without a care. "And then we were laying there and he kissed my eyes and nose and cheeks and we were just about to kiss for real when that asshole Ethan barged in. I swear, it's like he has some sort of alert system in place that tells him when I'm getting lucky."_

_"Maybe he does." Dimples shrugged, a small frown on her face. Justin stared at her incredulously. "No, seriously, Jus; it's not like there is much privacy in the dorms, so maybe he has someone alert him that you have someone in the room."_

_And Brian had to frown at that revelation; he'd heard weird things about that Ethan kid and there had been some sort of issue with his previous roommate leaving the college. Rumor had it that the kid, Eric Keller, had moved to the other fucking side of the country to live with his cousin to get away from Ethan. It worried him that Justin was having similar issues with the asshole._

_"That's just creepy," Justin said with shudder. Brian's frown deepened; he didn't blame Justin_

_"It's Ethan," Dimples said with a pointed look. Brian snickered; he could grow to like this girl. She didn't beat around the bush, but told it like it was._

_"I don't even want to think about that right now or I'll never be able to sleep at night," Justin shuddered again and looked away, his lip trapped between his teeth. "Anyways, so, he bursts in, which kills the mood pretty fast and Brian leaves; but not before he does kiss me softly on the lips and promises to see me today."_

_"Oooohhhhhh…" Dimples squealed, a dreamy look on her face. "So, how was it?"_

_"Amazing," Justin grinned, flashing that wide smile that lit up the room; Brian shifted in his seat as Justin closed his eyes and all but purred. "His lips are so soft, yet firm at the same time, and so warm; and God, he smells amazing – like vanilla and sandalwood and apples. And when our lips touched, it was like electricity shot down my spine."_

_Brian licked his lips, and looked away, a bit startled at Justin's words; because he'd felt the same way. Fuck, his own were still tingling due to those soft, pink lips. It had been difficult to pull away in that moment; he had been so close to saying fuck it, kicking the annoying fiddler out of the room and then crawling back into Justin's bed, and sinking back into that mouth that had his nerves sparking like a live wire._

_But he'd managed to control himself and walked away with nothing more than that kiss lingering on his lips and his dick so hard it could drill holes into concrete._

_Brian tuned back into the conversation, smirking when Justin seemed to be fending off a feisty blonde woman that seemed determined to show Justin the error of his ways. And then frowned when she demanded to know about someone she simply referred to as 'dickhead' and 'asshole' kicking the kid out. Based on the look on Justin's face, he didn't think it was a past lover as, while the heartbreak on his face was real, it didn't speak of a romantic attachment._

_After listening in for a few minutes, Brian smiled grimly as he realized that the 'asshole' in question was his father; and how well did he know that pain having been on the receiving end himself. He couldn't help being envious of Justin's other family connections, however. Most of his family was estranged because Joanie was a frigid bitch that turned her back on the few that would have helped her because they weren't pious enough in her opinion; and Jack had always been the black sheep, his children unfairly painted with the same brush and written off with him._

_But he'd show them all; everything he had in his life, he'd made for himself. And when he was successful in his chosen field, he'd look them in the face and say. 'See what you threw away? I'll bet you wish you'd paid attention to me now, don't you?'_

_Brian turned back to the blond female spitfire, who he'd dubbed Xena in his head, and chuckled as she finished describing her handling of good old Father Taylor; remind him never to piss that woman off. She took the saying that 'revenge is a dish best served cold' to a whole new level. And he couldn't help but admire her, and the way she fucked Justin's father over without even a shred of remorse. It must be nice to have family like that._

_"By the way," Xena said, sinking back into her confiscated chair. "You've been summoned for lunch this weekend; and don't even think you can get out of it by using school as an excuse as you have done recently. Grandmother isn't taking no for an answer."_

_"Oh shit," Justin groaned and dropped his arm over his face like the world was coming to an end. Overdramatic little twat._

_"Yeah, I'd grovel if I were you," Xena snickered, picking at a piece of nonexistent lint on her sweater. "Be sure to bring her a box of her favorite chocolates **and** flowers because she is not happy."_

_On the other hand; what did he know? He certainly hadn't had much contact with his mother's or father's parents. His mother's because she got pregnant out of wedlock, and after being forced to marry the man who did so, was kicked to the curb because they felt that she'd brought shame onto their family name. His dad's because Jack had always been a mean son of a bitch, with the devil inside him, as his mother had always said, and she'd washed her hands of him once he'd started hanging around the wrong sort._

_So, for all he knew, grandparents could be a thing to be feared if you were ignoring them; maybe if he looked at it from the view of him missing one of Deb's Sunday dinners when she was in town. And then he imagined missing a year in of them; and yeah, he got that level of terror when it was put that way._

_"I am so dead," Justin whined, glaring at his cousin when she just laughed at his predicament._

_"Although, if you brought your new beau with you, that might just distract her enough to keep her from skinning you alive," Xena said with a sly smile. Brian sat up and glared at the cousin. **What** new beau? "You know, like that guy you were just raving about… So, tell me little cousin, who is this man with the wondrous lips?"_

_Oh. **Oh**._

_Brian inhaled sharply and sat back, his mind whirling at those words; and then he flushed when Theodore shot him a funny look. Brian shook his head at the unspoken question and Ted turned back to Todd and continued talking about some new show or opera that he and Blake had attended. Brian looked at both blonds speculatively._

_Well, that certainly put things into a different perspective._

_"Oh, God; someone shoot me now," Justin groaned again, burying his face into the pillow Xena had beaten him over the head with; Brian smirked as Justin then decided to ignore his cousin; likely in the hope that she'd disappear before she completely embarrassed him._

_After that Brian lost the thread of the conversation as he mulled over what he learned about his little obsession. It was interesting that they'd had similar experiences coming out – both rejected by one or both parents. Both kicked out of their childhood home, both of them had decided to solve the issue on their own rather than turn to family or friends._

_But there were dissimilarities as well; Justin seemed to have an entire family network that he could tap into, whereas Brian…he'd created his own family instead. Sure, between Mikey, Emmett, Ted and the others, it was a band of misfit toys, but they were his family nonetheless and he knew he wouldn't have survived the coming out without them._

_"Jesus," Ted said in hushed awe, breaking Brian's reverie. Brian sent him a bemused glance, only to find his eyes firmly attached to something across the room. "That's obscene."_

_Brian followed his gaze, his mouth gaping as he watched Justin suck the spoon into his mouth, his cheeks hollowing as he slurped down the creamy substance in his glass. He shifted in his seat, his dick perking up and taking interest as Justin, ever so slowly, slid the near full length of it out of his mouth, and released it with an audible pop, his tongue swirling around the spoon head as he gathered up any stray bits of ice cream._

_He barely held back a whimper as Justin smiled and sighed in contentment, his very dexterous tongue digging into the corner of his mouth to scoop up that last little drop that clung to his lips. And then he couldn't help but squirm again as he imagined Justin on his knees in front of him, his lips wet and slick with cum, licking and sucking him down in the same manner. He whimpered at the thought, and watched, enthralled as Justin tipped his glass back and swallowed the rest of it down in one huge gulp._

_Fuck, the little twat didn't even seem to be aware of the audience he'd drawn; especially as he sucked on the cherry that had been in the glass, before chewing and swallowing it down. Scrubbing a hand over his face, Brian groaned aloud and remembered all too well what the twat had done with his cherry stem when they'd been sitting in the bar. Gulping down his drink, he tried to block out the mental image Justin using that wicked tongue on his cock and failed._

_"Fuck," Brian hissed between his teeth, his eyes riveted as Justin continued to molest his spoon as if he hadn't a care in the world; he'd think that the brat was doing it on purpose, but he'd remained quite oblivious to his audience throughout his little show._

_"Yeah, can you imagine what that mouth could do?" Ted said with no little awe, his eyes wide and jaw slack as he continued to stare at Justin. Brian hissed again, and glared at Ted_

_"Theodore," Brian said in a clipped voice, shooting a nasty look his friend's way; because he remembered all too well what he'd said in class and like hell was Brian going to allow him anywhere near Justin. If there was going to be any touching on Justin, it would be him who did it and him alone. "Kindly keep your thoughts to yourself and let's go. We have class."_

_Ted had the grace to blush, but his eyes were still riveted to the obscene demonstration as he grabbed his bag. Brian grabbed his bag and the take-out container, huffing as he herded Ted towards the door. But Ted was still to busy ogling Justin to pay attention to where he was walking; something Brian would need to nip in the bud immediately. It was also why he didn't see the backpack that fell off a chair into his path until it was too late._

_Squeaking as he stumbled, Ted fell into Justin's lap, sending that fucking spoon Justin had been fellating flying through the air and knocking the breath out of him. Brian clenched his hand around his bag as he watched Justin stare up Ted with a bit of dazed confusion, as if he was trying to place him, but couldn't. Ted sat up immediately, but instead of getting up, the asshole sat there patting and petting Justin and squirming in his lap as he apologized profusely to an overwhelmed Justin._

_Brian hissed as he watched Ted's hands run over Justin's arms, and legs and torso, his frown growing as Justin huffed and grabbed Ted by the hips to stop the squirming. But it wasn't until Brian noticed Justin's very visceral reaction to having a wriggling man in his lap that Brian lost his patience. Setting their take out aside, Brian walked over and yanked Ted out of Justin's lap, glaring at him as he tried to balk._

_"Let's go, Theodore," Brian hissed, picking up the take-out container and dragging Ted towards the door and shoving him out of it, muttering under his breath the entire way._

_"Fuck," Ted said, still looking a bit ruffled as he looked back over his shoulder, his cheeks flushed and certain body parts more than appreciative of his misadventure. "That was more than a little embarrassing."_

_Brian grunted, but didn't bother to acknowledge his friend's comment; otherwise he'd be afraid that he'd say something that would make him look like an utter twat. Fuck, who would believe that he, Brian Kinney, had been close to ripping someone's head off just because they'd accidentally copped a feel of someone he hadn't even really kissed yet? It was absurd; and yet he couldn't deny that if Ted had continued his innocent molestation of Justin, Brian would have needed to call Ben to help him hide a body._

_"I have to admit though," Ted said a bit breathlessly, casting a sly glance in Brian's direction. "Kid's packing from what I felt."_

_"Theodore," Brian grit out between clenched teeth, his insides clenching at the thought that Ted had gotten close enough to know. "Do yourself a favor and shut the fuck up."_

_"Emmett is right," Ted snorted, a smirk firmly etched onto his face as they walked toward the Tepper quad. "You've got it so bad. This is going to be so much fun."_

_"Whatever," Brian grumbled, irritated that he'd already given so much away; what was it about this kid that had him acting like a complete idiot? "Let's go; we have class."_

 

He'd never made that class, as just as he and Ted were about to walk away, he'd spied a familiar head of blond hair and thrust the food at Ted and followed that instead.

And what was it about that kid and fucking food? Must he molest everything he eats and drinks? Because Brian sure as hell hadn't forgotten the way he'd manipulated that cherry stem with nothing but his teeth and tongue. How could he, when that very dexterous tongue had featured heavily in his fantasies of late?

And then there was fucking Ted and his little comments, purposefully needling Brian just to get a reaction out of him. Although, he couldn't fault him on that; he'd often done the same thing and the entirety of their friendship had been built on it for years. It wasn't that they disliked each other; far from it. It was that they knew the other could handle their more waspish sides and wouldn't run home crying like Emmylou or Mikey would.

Or, well, Mikey would; Emmett got a few zingers in himself.

But still, he hadn't liked Ted's speculations at all; which was very unlike him. Usually he'd join in with his own speculations and they'd all laugh it off and move onto the next piece of eye candy. But he couldn't do that this time; there was just something about Justin that made Brian want to grab him and yell ' _mine_ ' at the top of his lungs. It was disconcerting to say the least and left him feeling uncomfortable and wrong-footed.

Maybe he just needed to fuck the kid and get him out of his system.

"Wow, I never realized people actually read the books in this section. I thought it was just make-out central." A familiar voice said, breaking through Brian's thoughts.

_Speak of the devil._

Brian looked up, smirking as Justin walked towards the table he'd been working at, looking around the area with thinly veiled disgust, his nose wrinkled in that adorable way that he had. And then he shook his head at his thoughts; Christ, he was turning into a lesbian with all these flowery and mushy thoughts of late. He so needed to get laid so that his dick didn't shrivel up and fall off in protest.

"I'll have you know, that's strictly between the hours of eight and closing time," Brian intoned, his smirk widening as Justin turned to him with an arched brow. "Otherwise, it's the perfect place to study since no one ever comes here during the day."

"And you know this how?" Justin inquired, sitting on the corner of his table.

"Who do you think was the biggest propagator of those rules?" Brian grinned full out, and then bit back a groan, his dick stirring when Justin flashed him a wary look before his face smoothed.

Fuck; that had been a bad move on his part as that small flash of vulnerability had awakened the dormant predator in Brian; and he wanted nothing more than show this kid what it meant to tangle with the big boys. Rising from his chair, his heartbeat picked up in tempo, and his dick twitched as Justin slid from his seat on the table, that one small move speaking volumes about his uneasiness with the switch in tone.

"Please," Brian purred, rounding the table and stalking slowly towards Justin. "You know damn well what my reputation was like, is like." Justin took a hesitant step backwards. "You can't tell me that Em didn't fill you in on everything. You admitted as much yourself the other day." Brian continued forward, neatly maneuvering his prey just where he wanted him. "I suspect he was also the one to tell you where to find me."

"He did," Justin said, a fine tremor of nerves in his voice; and then he cursed as his back hit against a bookshelf; just as Brian intended.

"And yet," Brian drawled, placing his hands against the bookcase on either side of Justin's head, caging him in. "You've put yourself directly into my clutches in a place where I ruled supreme."

Justin licked his lips and swallowed thickly, his breath falling in uneven puffs against Brian's face. Brian watched that tongue flick out and slide over Justin's lips, utterly mesmerized and fuck if he didn't want to capture it then and there and find out what it tasted like. He flicked his eyes up and met darkened blue, the pupils blown wide with lust as Justin stared up at him, no longer the uncertain boy.

"Maybe that's exactly where I want to be," Justin stated, boldly staring him in the eye.

Fuck. He'd say it again – the kid had titanium balls. He really needed to redirect this conversation before he forgot himself and lost control of the situation. Something that sounded very promising indeed, but would in the end, pull him deeper into the blond's spell and he couldn't afford the distraction.

"Plus," Brian finished lamely, his dick all but screaming at him for being an utter asshole about this, and pulled away. "There are a lot of useful books in this section."

But rather than showing disappointment, Justin's eyes were knowing and triumphant as they followed Brian back to the table. And Brian couldn't blame him on his reaction, as he was well aware of how much he gave away with that action

"Brian," Justin huffed, clearly amused with his inane commentary, but humoring him by playing along. "It's the place where books go to die. Honestly, look at this layer of dust. I think even the Librarians have forgotten that these shelves exist."

"So, what are you doing here?" Brian sat back down in his seat, breathless and his dick cursing him for giving up the chase when they'd had the beautiful blond right where they'd wanted him. And he was begin to think his dick was right; he couldn't believe that he'd pussied out at the last moment. What the fuck was wrong with him?

This kid was seriously fucking with his head.

"Looking for you," Justin said, a small smile on his face as he walked back towards the table, but instead of sitting on the corner of it as he did before, he rounded the table and came to a standstill beside Brian.

"Anything in particular you needed?" Brian asked, arching a brow and trying to play it as cool as possible; but his dick definitely had other ideas, perking up due to the blond's proximity.

"I can think of a few things," Justin purred, his eyes half-mast as he flicked them over Brian, halting unerringly on his crotch; he licked his lips, making Brian harden further and then flicked his eyes back up to meet his. "But mostly I wanted to remind you of our second session tonight. I managed to snag the studio for about four hours." Justin paused for impact. "Alone."

And fuck it; why exactly was he fighting this again when the boy was all but wagging his ass in front of Brian like a red flag at a prized bull. Hadn't he just been resolved to fucking the kid out of his system?

"I don't know, Taylor," Brian purred, licking his own lips as he slid his eyes over the lithe blond, definitely loving what he was seeing. His jeans were low on his hips, but rather than bagging in that unattractive way that some have, they fit in all the right places, leaving that spectacular ass on display. "You seem to be the one that's benefiting the most from this arrangement. What's in it for me?"

Justin smirked and took a step closer, and then he raised one foot and set it on the other side of Brian's chair, so that he was straddling it. Brian looked up at him with a faintly amused smile on his lips, and appreciated his initiative. Definitely not someone who was afraid to go after what he wanted.

"What do you want?" Justin asked, his eyes challenging Brian to push him away; and fuck with a question like that, the kid lost any hope of him doing so. He'd won this little battle of wills in one felled swoop.

"I think I need some form of payment upfront; you know, before I get naked and show you the goods," Brian said, tumbling the blond into his lap; he wrapped his arms around Justin's waist as the blond got comfortable and made himself at home there.

"That could be arranged," Justin murmured as he rested his hands on the back of Brian's chair, his lids half-mast as he caged Brian in, his breath soft and sweet as their lips hovered together, barely a couple inches apart.

"Mmmm…" Brian hummed, his eyes firmly latched onto the soft, pink lips he'd been thinking of since last night. He slid his hands down and cupped that amazing ass and squeezed, drawing a long, low groan from Justin's lips. "We were interrupted last night."

"We were," Justin agreed softly, his eyes flicking over Brian's face in question, and then, after finding what he wanted, leaned down, and brushed their lips together.

Brian groaned and slid his hands back up, crushing the other man close to him as he pressed back firmly, deepening the kiss. Justin hummed against his mouth, a slight vibration that had Brian's lips tingling as they continued to tease each other, brushing closed lips against each other, over and over until they were both breathing erratically.

Justin's lips were soft, and slightly damp, the faintest hint of manufactured cherries clinging to them, as if he'd just applied Chapstick or a similar lip balm; and Brian couldn't get over the feel and taste and touch of them. Parting his mouth, Brian slid his hands into Justin's hair and marveled at its silkiness as he licked along the seam of Justin's lips, teasing them into opening for him so that he could finally taste him.

Groaning, Justin slid his arms around Brian's neck, and leaned into him, draping his body against his as he parted his lips and flicked his tongue out in answer. And Brian jolted, as if shocked by a live wire, as their tongues tentatively touched for the first time, and Justin's slid wetly against his, bringing with it the faint hint of cherry and chocolate.

Clenching fine blond strands, Brian sealed their mouths together and delved into Justin's, tracing all the nooks and crannies and ridges of his mouth before tangling their tongues together. A frisson of pleasure shot down his spine as Justin curled his tongue around his, teasing and demonstrating just how nimble it was as he in turn chased Brian's back into his own mouth.

And fuck, the fact that he was so fucking hard from a kiss threw him; how was it even possible to be so turned on when they hadn't even gotten naked yet?

They sat there, heatedly kissing, blind and deaf to their surroundings, the only noticeable sounds being the harsh rasp of their breath, the low kittenish mewls from Justin, Brian's own low groans, and the wet smack of lips as they devoured each other. Hands slid over overheated bodies, and hips rocked against each other as they came together again and again, teasing and nipping at each other's lips as if they'd never get enough.

"God, I want to fuck you so badly I can taste it," Brian hissed quietly against Justin's mouth, smirking when Justin could only make a small, incomprehensible noise of agreement before the blond attacked his lips again. And fuck, this kid was going to be the death of him yet; albeit a pleasant one, but the death of him nonetheless.

Brian inhaled sharply through his nose, his eyes slit as he watched the pleasure flowing over Justin's face; and then he whimpered as the scent of sandalwood and citrus from Justin's cologne or soap washed over him, and mingled with the musk of their arousal and the sweat clinging to their bodies. And that sent his lust skyrocketing until, if he wasn't careful, he was liable to throw Justin on the table and fuck him right then and there.

And that had him sobering a bit; not because he didn't want to fuck Justin – because he so fucking did; he just wanted to be in a venue where he could fully enjoy it. The stacks at the Library were all good for a quick fuck, but not conducive to taking one's time. And based on what he could feel of this killer body pressed against his, he definitely wanted to spend the well-deserved time worshiping it.

Pulling back from Justin's mouth, Brian rested his head against the blond's and tried to get his breath back. Justin whimpered at the loss, but didn't try to re-engage Brian's mouth; but he did lean in and nuzzle his nose against Brian's, sharing breath and nearly had Brian saying fuck it. He was so close to attempting to convince Justin to keep going until clothing disappeared and he was buried as deeply inside the blond as he could be.

But then Justin reluctantly pulled away, and fuck, what a glorious sight he made – cheeks flushed with arousal, his lips wet, red and kiss-swollen and his eyes nearly black, only the faintest band of blue around the pupil. His hair was mussed from where Brian had run his hands through it and his clothing was rumpled in the most delicious way as his hands had sought and found the soft skin of Justin's back and ribs.

It wreaked merry hell on Brian's restraint and he was close to hauling the blond off to his room to finish what they'd started when Justin spoke.

"I really hate to end this," Justin said, still slightly breathless; he dropped a soft kiss onto Brian's mouth and groaned, his fingers tightening in Brian's shirt as he very visibly held himself back from initiating more. "Really, _really_ hate it," He muttered again as he pulled away; he sat up with a sigh. "But we need to get to the studio. I'm already behind on this project and I need to devote the rest of this time to it if I want to be done in time. "

Brian silently cursed in his head, knowing that Justin was right, but fuck; he was hard as a rock and he wanted nothing more than to tumble the blond into the nearest bed. But the project was the whole reason for their current association and he couldn't put it off no matter how much he wanted to fuck the beautiful blond into his mattress.

Although, they would have the studio to themselves for four hours…so there was always that; it promised to be fun trying if nothing else.

"When is your project due?" Brian asked, still a little out of breath himself; he needed to know, because once this was done and over with, he planned having the little blond in his lap over and over until he was finally sated; if he ever could be.

"Monday," Justin said, his eyes flicking over his face, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips as if he'd figured out what Brian was thinking. And maybe he had, as his eyes heated and he looked coyly through his lashes as he purred. "But after…"

"Yes, after…" Brian smirked, and pulled him close, hoping that Justin could read the promise in his own as he flicked them slowly over the blond's face, neck and what he could see of his body. He pressed a kiss against the lobe of Justin's ear, and enjoyed the shiver as he whispered. "After that, your ass is _mine_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Prompts:** Brian POV; Second session; Brian who wants to be the new beau at the luncheon; a milkshake because I am evil and there should be lots of suction to torment Brian who’s lurking nearby and fighting with himself about Justin. Brian is getting food; Ted is with him and accidentally falls on Justin, which makes Brian jealous. Making out in the stacks; Brian demanding payment up front, joking of course; Justin being more than happy to make that payment.


	9. Cat and Mouse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on getting this next chapter out; but now that I have cut back to posting every other day on Britin, it gives me a chance to work on other projects (this one primarily) on the alternative days. And hopefully, that means I'll be able to update this story every two weeks or so.

Justin huffed and stormed up to his dorm, plucking at his shirt the entire way to keep the cold, sticky remains of his milkshake from clinging to his skin. It wasn't much, as he'd drank most of it, but it was uncomfortable still. Not wanting to wait for the elevator, Justin ran up the stairs to his third floor dorm room and swiftly let himself in.

Tossing his bag onto his bed, he briefly looked over at Ethan, who was curled up on his bed studying and felt the briefest flash of annoyance to find him staring at his ass yet again. Ethan looked up and then flushed and turned back to his books, but not before Justin saw the flash of lust in his eyes. Barely holding back a shudder of disgust at the thought of him anywhere near his body, Justin fished out a small package of wet wipes that his mother had sent him in his last care package for some reason.

Sighing, Justin set them on his desk and then crossed to the closest to pull out his v-neck, navy blue sweater and favorite pair of jeans, the ones that fit him like a glove and were worn in all the right ways. Not that he needed to change his jeans; but as he was planning to track down a certain brunet, he wanted to make as much of an impact as possible.

Shuffling through the closet, Justin cursed at the mess Ethan had left behind. While he wasn't known for his neatness, he just didn't understand how Ethan could live in this squalor; but he sure as hell wasn't going to clean up after his ass either. Shifting all of Ethan's shit into a pile on his side of the closet, Justin continued to look for the aforementioned items.

That was likely why Ethan's question hadn't registered in his brain at first.

"I was wondering if you might like to get lunch," Ethan asked out of the blue, pulling Justin's attention away from his search for a moment.

"Uh, what?" Justin asked, shooting a distracted look over his shoulder before he turned back to his closet. Where the fuck were they? He could have sworn…

"Lunch?" Ethan asked again, prompting Justin to glance over at him once more before he shook his head and continued to look.

"Oh, I already ate with Daphne," Justin replied, sitting back on his heels with a frown on his face. "Where the hell are they? I could have sworn that I put them in here."

"What are you looking for?" Ethan asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice. And really, what the fuck did he have to be annoyed about? It wasn't like Justin was being noisy or unduly disturbing him; hell, he was barely in his room if he could help it.

"My favorite jeans and my navy v-neck sweater," Justin huffed; he picked through Ethan's clothing once more, wondering if he'd just missed it in his first pass. And Ethan really needed to do his laundry and soon, because this was ridiculous.

"They're in your dresser; the third drawer down," Ethan said, making Justin pause at the absolute certainty ringing through his voice. "What about dinner?"

"Thanks," Justin said, slowly getting up to look in his dresser, and then feeling completely dumbfounded when he realized that they were, indeed, in his dresser. But he didn't remember putting them there, nor did he remember Ethan being here when he put away his laundry. And after what Daph said earlier, it kind of creeped him out. " _What_ about dinner?"

"We could go out for dinner instead," Ethan said, smiling at him; and again, Justin got an odd feeling about that smile, as he pulled out his jeans and sweater.

"Are you asking me on a date?" Justin asked slowly, his skin crawling at the thought of going anywhere with this asshole after the bed incident and the way he always seemed to know Justin was 'entertaining' and now the clothes thing.

Really, he couldn't even begin to fathom why Ethan would think that he'd want anything to do with him after he'd very pointedly told him that he didn't sleep with his roommates and had very pointedly turned down his advances during the bed thing.

"No," Ethan said, hastily backtracking in a way that told Justin that he had indeed been fishing for a date; and yeah, no way. Even if Justin hadn't been interested in Brian, there was no way in hell he'd ever date Ethan. He was far too needy for his tastes. "We just haven't spent much time together lately and I thought we could catch up."

"Right," Justin said, gathering up his things to head for the bathroom; he was going to just wipe off with a wet nap, change and go, but no way was he going to do that now with Ethan in the room; might as well shower instead. "Sorry, I can't; I have plans for tonight."

"With Kinney I suppose," Ethan spat, instantly getting Justin's back up; because like fuck was he going to have this whiney little asshole questioning his movements.

"Not that it's any of your business," Justin said a bit tightly, his mouth thinning as he stared his roommate down. "But yes, I need to work on my project with Brian."

"Is that what they're calling it these days?" Ethan snidely asked, the words coated in bitterness.

"As I said before," Justin said, not giving an inch as he didn't answer to the little creep. Not now, not ever. "What I do is none of your business."

"Whatever," Ethan snapped; but he went back to the book he'd been reading when Justin came in, a disgruntled pout pulling at his lips.

"Yeah, whatever," Justin reiterated, grabbing his clothing, towel and shower supplies; he needed to get out there before he snapped and kicked his ass. "I won't be in until late."

"You always are," Ethan spat, sounding more and more like a bitter, cuckolded husband; of which, he most certainly was not.

Fuck; he couldn't wait for this year to end so he could get the fuck out of here and find a better roommate. Maybe he'd ask Todd; he had to be pretty sick of Asshole Neighbor by now and would be looking for a new roommate.

… … … … …

Justin ran the towel over his hair as he walked back to his dorm room and let himself in; thankful to find that Ethan was nowhere to be seen. He put his toiletries back into the closet and began re-packing his bag with all the things he needed, not only for his class in an hour, but also for the studio this evening since he wanted everything in place when he dragged…er…enticed Mr. Kinney back to his lair.

Enticed, yes; that was definitely the word of the day.

Throwing his messenger bag over his neck and shoulder, Justin took one last look around the room to see if he'd missed anything, when a corner of a picture sticking out from under Ethan's bed caught his eye. And later, he wouldn't be able to say what compelled him, maybe it was just his insatiable curiosity, but Justin walked over to the bed and pulled the picture out, bringing another two along with it.

Justin stared at the stack, his skin creeping once again as he stared at his own face in unguarded moments. The photos were all in black and white and taken in various places around or near campus. Like the third one he was certain was taken in HuggaMug, as the pattern on the couch was very familiar; but he couldn't recall seeing anyone with a camera recently. Of course, Daphne would say that was because he was fucking oblivious to the world around him, but surely he would have noticed this?

He flushed and realized that no, he likely wouldn't have; especially in recent days when he'd become fixated on one Brian Kinney. Shuffling through the pictures one more time, he wasn't sure how he felt about this. On the one hand, Ethan was taking a beginning black and white photography class for one of his non-music art requirements. On the other hand, added to the weird things he'd noticed about his roommate, and the things that Daphne had brought to light, he was decidedly creeped out.

Shuddering, Justin shoved them back under the bed and quickly exited the room, wanting to put as much distance between the photos and him as possible. He strode down the hall and headed for the elevators this time, pushing the down button as he got there and waiting as the elevator started its slow descent.

Quickly slipping into the car as the door open, he leaned against the wall and silently nodded to some random resident wearing a Hotlanta t-shirt. He'd seen the guy around the common room and at hall meetings and events, but still had no clue what his name was. All he'd been able to divulge from his polite, but non-stop stream of chatter was that he was from Atlanta originally, liked spicy foods and moved here to go to school because he had family nearby.

But rather than engage him in their typical idle chit-chat, Justin buried his face into his phone as he was feeling, as again Daphne would say, particularly unsociable after his run-in with Ethan. Justin, on the other hand, would say he had no problem being social; it was not his fault that he hated most people upon meeting them.

When the elevator car stopped on the ground floor, Justin let Hotlanta out first; just because he wasn't feeling sociable, didn't mean he didn't appreciate a beautiful man, with a nice ass. He wasn't of Brian caliber, but still was nicely put together. Hotlanta looked over his shoulder to say goodbye and then winked as he caught Justin staring. Justin winked back and couldn't help wondering for the dozenth time why he hadn't tapped that a long time ago. But then Hotlanta was gone and Justin reverted back to All Kinney, All the Time Brain and that thought was quickly forgotten.

Walking towards the common room, he thought to grab himself the coffee that he'd decided against from the student vendors that were there, and then froze when a familiar voice caught his ear. Scanning the room, he found Brian sitting on a couch, looking visibly annoyed as he talked to Asshole Neighbor.

Fuck, but he was beautiful.

Dressed in a thin, black v-neck sweater and a pair of indigo jeans, Brian was laid back against the arm of the couch like a God waiting to be worshiped, staring at his friend with a mixture of annoyance and repulsion. He yanked his arm away from Asshole Neighbor and said something suitably sharp and mocking judging by his expression and the furious look on Asshole's face.

Justin couldn't help but smirk at that; because really, how the hell the asshole and Brian were friends, he didn't know. He had had the unfortunate experience of trying to hold a conversation with Asshole Neighbor at one of those ice-breaker dorm activities where you get to know your neighbors. And it been one of the most mind-numbingly dull conversations that he'd ever experienced. He literally had to slug back a cup of coffee and was searching for his NoDoz in an attempt to stay awake while Asshole prattled on.

And that had only been a five-minute conversation before they'd switched off partners. Never fucking again. God, sometimes he just wanted to smother Daphne for dragging him to all of these dorm activities. Didn't she remember that he hated people?

Chewing on his lower lip, Justin looked at Brian again, and briefly considered walking over there to flirt with him, just to annoy Asshole Neighbor; but then he shuddered as Asshole Neighbor whined at Brian and decided that _nothing_ , not even Brian Kinney's very delicious looking lips was worth listening to that whine. He'd find him later.

Deciding to forgo his cup of coffee, Justin turned on his heel and headed towards the opposite door as quickly as he could, cursing under his breath when he heard Brian shouting after him, and Asshole Neighbor giving chase. If Brian had been alone, he wouldn't have a problem stopping; in fact he would have likely walked over and climbed into his lap to finish what they started the night before. But with Captain Whiney with him, Justin needed to get as far away as possible before he squashed him like a bug.

Slipping around the corner, Justin ducked behind a bush until he saw Brian come out the door and scan the students milling about, rushing to class or coming back; and then he cursed. Justin almost felt bad about hiding and briefly considered snagging him and dragging him over to his hiding place; but the Asshole Neighbor caught up and no way.

He pressed against the wall, trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible when Brian drew near to his location. And just when he thought he was caught, (which actually sounded like a lot of fun if Asshole Neighbor wasn't trailing after him like a lost puppy), Captain Whiney did what he does best and whined something at Brian, forcing him to turn around and scowl at the annoying little man.

"What do you want, Mikey?" Brian huffed, looking beyond fucked off with his friend. And Justin didn't blame him, because really, that whine would be enough to kill anyone's mojo. "I already told you that I'm busy and I don't have time to cater to your whims."

Huh, looks like there is trouble in paradise, boys; too bad Captain Whiney didn't know any better. Had someone spoken to Justin like that, he would have happily told them to fuck off and went about his merry way; flipping them off the entire way at that.

"You know," Asshole Neighbor said, looking at Brian suspiciously. "I'm beginning to think you don't want me around, Brian."

Jesus fuck; you're just now figuring this shit out? Hell, Justin figured this out from the moment that he walked into the student lounge and watched Brian sit on a sofa with a ' _please fuck off, and die'_ look on his face as he chewed Captain Whiney a new one.

"Maybe because I don't," Brian said, arching a brow and making the asshole frown. "You are not my lover or my boyfriend, Michael; you were my friend, but I'm really starting to rethink that these days. I don't answer to you."

Well, that was nice and blunt; too bad Captain Whiney had a head thicker than a slab of concrete. He should know; Justin had been trying, unsuccessfully, to beat some sense into it the entire time that they'd been dorm mates.

"You better watch it," Michael hissed. "My mom pays for you too; it would be a shame if she could no longer do that because we aren't friends."

Asshole's face screwed up into a malevolent sneer, nearly making Justin leave his hiding place just so he could boot him in his nonexistent ass. Daphne taught him well, and you don't speak to your best friend that way.

"Go ahead," Brian taunted, looking very sure of himself; and Justin soon learned why. "You mother doesn't pay for anything more than a few incidentals, for which she's already set aside an account for me in my name only. Everything else is covered under my scholarship and my internship. Your threats mean nothing to me."

Captain Whiney stared at Brian, his mouth opening and closing, but nothing came out; apparently he hadn't expected to hear that. He finally closed his mouth and stood there fuming at his impotence. Served him right, the nasty little shit.

"Oh, yeah," Brian smirked. "Didn't know that did you? As always, you need me; I don't need you. So go ahead and tell her that I told you to fuck off; she can't do anything to me. But I can do something to you, Mikey. You threaten me again, and I'll tell her just how you've managed to pass the few classes you're taking. Trust me when I say that if it came down to you or his career, Dr. Dave will hang you out to dry."

Brian leaned in and sneered at a floundering Captain Whiney. "Now do me a favor and fuck off; I'm done with your bullshit."

And with that, Brian stormed off, leaving a flabbergasted Asshole Neighbor in his wake. Looked like Captain Whiney was on the way out; and Justin couldn't help peeking between the branches of the bush and staring after Brian with an odd pride and admiration. Good for him. And thank God; he could forgive him for befriending the idiot when they were younger; after all, they all did stupid things when they were younger. But holding onto to such a waste of space was just holding him back; it was time to take the garbage out.

… … … … …

Justin prowled around the studio, trying to get his heart rate and hormones under control; he was still hard as a rock, leaving his favorite jeans uncomfortably tight as he straightened out the studio in preparation for Brian's arrival. After things had gotten heated in the library, ending with Brian promising to fuck his brains out once his project deadline wasn't looming over their heads, they'd gone their separate ways.

Justin came to the studio to make sure his studio mates hadn't fucked anything up. And Brian had gone back to his dorm to get rid of all the books he checked out for the paper he was writing, promising that he would be in the studio within ten to fifteen minutes. And looking at the studio, he was glad that he'd gotten there before Brian since one of his asshole studio mates had left a trail of candy wrappers and junk food containers scattered around the studio floor like the were fucking Hansel or Gretel.

Seriously, his studio mates could be fucking pigs sometimes. Justin sighed and grabbed a sticky, empty ice-cream carton and looked at it – Salted Caramel Swirl – well, at least they had taste. He chucked the container into the garbage, and then picked up a paintbrush that was lying next to it. Justin examined it with a frown, but couldn't see anything wrong with it, so he slid it into a copper pen holder with the other random brushes and odds he'd found over the semester, figuring one day they'd be claimed – either by his studio mates or himself at the end of the semester.

He didn't see the point in tossing perfectly good supplies because these assholes were a bunch of careless wastrels; shuffling through the papers on the countertop to make certain that he hadn't left any of his sketches out, Justin winced as he noticed that one of the charcoals had met its ill-fated end at the hands of some liquid; likely coffee judging by the smell and color of it. But since it wasn't one of his, he set it aside and continued about his business of cleaning.

After Justin was done, he pulled out the supplies that he'd need that day – the chicken wire for the frame, garden wire, tape measure, wire cutters, needle-nose pliers and gloves. He set them on his work space and then, remembering how chilled Brian had been the last time, turned on the space heater that he'd brought in; and then he glanced at the clock hanging over the door.

Swiping his hands over his thighs, Justin blew out a nervous breath as he realized that Brian would be there at any time, and started laying things out, freezing for a split second when he heard the door open. Biting his lower lip, he finished what he was doing as the door shut and Justin swallowed thickly as he heard the lock engage.

Licking his lips, he tried to concentrate on the task at hand, but it was difficult when Brian was suddenly behind Justin, pressing his thickening cock into Justin's ass. Hands gripped his hips and pulled him back firmly into the cradle of Brian's body, and he couldn't help gasping when a pair of lips attached themselves to his ear.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Brian murmured, nipping at the lobe of Justin's ear, making him weak kneed. Justin bit back a groan, and stopped fiddling with the chicken wire as he didn't need to cut his hands to ribbons in his distraction. This so wasn't helping his resolve. "Do you need me to pose for you?"

"Today, I'll just be making the frame," Justin said, his voice taking on a breathless tone as Brian continued to nip and nibble and trail kisses along his jaw and down over his throat. "And I wanted you here so I can get the proper proportions down."

"I thought that's what the measurements you did the other day were for?" Brian asked as he turned Justin to face him, and Justin nearly swallowed his tongue. Brian smirked as Justin's eyes swept over him, his eyes stuttering to a halt as they fell onto the very visible erection straining against a pair of jeans than nearly made Justin come on sight.

Fuck, he couldn't wait to have that, very generous from where he was standing, cock in his mouth, and sliding down his throat as Brian came. Licking his lips, he flicked his eyes back up and met darkened hazel, the pupils blown with lust as Brian stepped further into his personal space, and dipped, rubbing their cocks together.

Justin hissed, and clutched at Brian's hips to still them; and then did groan as Brian's mouth descended onto his, sucking on his lower lip. Justin wrapped his arms around Brian's neck and pressed against him, parting his lips when Brian bit his the lower one and then flicked his tongue over it to soothe the sting. Fuck, he didn't think he'd ever get enough those very sinfully soft lips and his equally talented and wicked tongue.

Sliding his hands over Brian's back, the feel of the thin cashmere adding to the sensuality of the moment, Justin licked into Brian's mouth and then whimpered when Brian's fingers curled into his hair and tugged his head back further. And then Justin lost all train of thought as Brian took over and deepened the kiss, teasing and tangling their tongues together until Justin was making little purrs of pleasure in the back of his throat and clutching at the back of Brian's sweater for dear life.

Sadly, however, the need for air had them pulling apart before Justin was really ready; he sighed as Brian rested his head against Justin's, but he was happy to note that Brian's breath was just as labored as his.

"So?" Brian prompted, placing little kisses against Justin's kiss-swollen lips and over his chin and jaw.

And it took a few minutes for Justin to recall just what the hell Brian was talking about as he'd lost the thread of their conversation once his lips were on his. But it soon came to him as he replayed the moments before in his mind.

"I've always preferred a much more hands on approach," Justin smirked, sliding his hands down Brian's back to his ass, which he cupped and squeezed in appreciation. "After all; the measurements won't tell me much about the curvature of your ass."

"I do so love the hands on approach myself," Brian murmured, his hands busy mapping Justin's ass; he squeezed one last time and then reluctantly stepped away from Justin, though his eyes remained hot and heavy and on Justin the entire time.

Justin sighed at the loss. Right, the project; Justin was suddenly regretting the fact that he'd put this stupid project off this long. It was interfering in all of his fun. But, at least there was definitely one side benefit to this situation.

"Well?" Justin prodded, arching a brow as he slid his eyes down a slightly mussed and unbelievably, scorching hot Brian. "Aren't you going to get undressed?"

"Oh, I plan on it," Brian said, and toyed with the edge of his sweater, his hands pulling at it as if he were getting ready to take it off. Justin licked his lips again and avidly watched as Brian tugged the sweater up an inch or so to the waistband of his jeans; and then he huffed when Brian dropped it and crossed his arms over his chest. "On one condition."

"Condition?" Justin's brows shot into his hairline; Brian smirked. "Aren't we demanding today, Mr. Kinney; first you demand a payment upfront and now you're setting conditions? And they say that artists are the demanding and temperamental ones."

"Models are just as notorious in their _wants and desires_ ," Brian purred, putting an emphasis on the last few words; Justin cursed internally as his dick twitched all too happily at the thought of providing those wants and desires. "And I think I established earlier that you seem to be getting the most out of this arrangement of ours. I think it's only fair that I receive a few little concessions as well."

"Touché," Justin murmured; he tapped his lips as he made a pretense of thinking about it. Not that Brian was fooled. "Alright, fair enough; name your condition."

Brian grinned wolfishly and stepped back into Justin's personal space. Justin swallowed thickly, his mouth going dry at that look and he couldn't help feeling as if he had just bitten off far more than he could chew by conceding. Brian dipped his head down and brushed their lips together, drawing another hum of pleasure from Justin's lips.

"For every article of clothing I take off," Brian said as he pulled back just enough to look into Justin's eyes, his sparkling with challenge and mischief. "You have to take one off."

Justin groaned internally, his dick twitching again at the thought; but he must not have held it back as much as he thought as Brian chuckled and flashed him a knowing grin. Justin glared at him halfheartedly, the man was going to drive him insane.

"Me?" Justin asked, slightly surprised by the request. He arched a brow. "You want to see me in my underwear?"

And then he wanted to smack himself for his inane question; especially when Brian looked at him like he was wondering if Justin were mentally impaired. Justin didn't really blame him either as Brian hadn't made it a secret by any means that he'd wanted to find a way to get Justin out of his pants since they met.

"I'd rather see you with nothing," Brian said as he pressed back up against Justin, and smirked when Justin inhaled sharply. "But I'll settle for your underwear; for now."

Justin licked his lips; it was a really bad idea no matter how much he wanted to do it; and he really, really wanted to do it. But, again, bad idea as he was already having trouble concentrating without the added distraction of Brian eye-fucking him the entire time. On the other hand, the jeans would mess up the lines of the frame and…he was lying through his teeth; he really didn't need Brian to remove his clothing at this given the sketches he did the last time. But he really wanted it; really, really wanted it, and if him shedding some clothing got him what he wanted...

As they say, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

"Deal," Justin said, his voice going breathy as Brian's smirk broadened into a wolfish grin; and Justin was now wondering what the hell he'd just gotten himself into.

"Excellent," Brian purred, running his hands over Justin's torso and down to his waist, where he'd grabbed the edge of his sweater. "Now, why don't I help you with this?"

"Only if I have free rein to do the same," Justin stated boldly; because damn, he'd so wanted to get his hands on this man for days and this was the perfect opportunity for him to do so. He ran his hands down Brian's back, to his where his own sweater gathered at his waist, swallowing harshly as Brian's eyes grew dark and smoky.

"Wouldn't have it any other way…" Brian murmured, running his hands up under Justin's sweater, his skin hot and callused against Justin's skin.

Justin bit his lip to stifle a groan and closed his eyes, leaning into those teasing caresses; and then he whimpered when they were pulled away. Brian smirked and stepped away from him, leaving Justin to stare at him in confusion. The other man made a big production of removing his shoes.

Justin smirked; well, if that's the way he wanted to play it...

He too made a big production of stepping out of his shoes, and then crossed his arms over his chest and arched a challenging brow, waiting for Brian's next move. Brian smirked and then made quick work of his socks, balling them up and tossing them to the side, with Justin quickly following suit; and then Brian cocked a brow and reached for Justin, pulling him over by his sweater until they were just inches apart.

He sucked in a breath, his stomach clenching as Brian grabbed the edges of his sweater and slowly pushed it up, his fingers tracing lines of fire onto Justin's skin as they trailed in its wake. Raising his hands above his head to facilitate its removal, Justin groaned when Brian yanked it from his head, tossed it to the side and then crushed their bodies together in one smooth move.

Brian sealed their mouths together and his hands were everywhere, branding Justin's flesh with teasing touches and searing caresses. Justin groaned and wrapped his arms around Brian's neck once more, losing himself to the kiss. Sliding his hands down, he grabbed the edges of Brian's sweater and pulled it up, abruptly halting the kiss and pulling away when, instead of finding skin, he found more clothing.

Frowning, Justin looked down as Brian divested himself of the sweater and flushed as he quickly puzzled it out in his head. For under the sweater was a black wife beater; and, if Justin was to assume that Brian was wearing both underwear and jeans, it left Brian with three pieces of clothing to Justin's two. That put Justin at a distinct disadvantage as, if he were to ask Brian to strip down to his briefs, Justin would be left in the buff.

"Oh," Justin said; he chewed on his bottom lip as he looked up and was met with Brian's smug grin. He'd obviously realized that Justin had come to the conclusion that he's been out maneuvered by the brunet. Sneaky bastard.

"Hmmm…we seem to have a bit of a problem here," Brian purred, toying with the buttons on Justin's jeans; and then asshole had the nerve to smirk. "Well, not a problem as such for me; you aren't getting shy on me, are you, Taylor?"

"Not at all," Justin said, a determined gleam in his eyes as he pulled the wife beater out of Brian's jeans and slid his hands underneath it for his first touch of warm, smooth skin. Brian hissed and his eyes turned dark and smoky as Justin raked his nails down his back. "But how is it fair that I'm naked when you aren't?"

"Those weren't the rules, though," Brian reminded him, raising his hands so that Justin could peel the wife beater away; and then he dropped them, his fingers quickly and deftly popping the buttons at his fly. Sliding his hands into Justin's jeans, he cupped Justin's ass and squeezed as he murmured against Justin's ear. "Remember this, Taylor; I always win."

Justin groaned, squirming as his jeans slid down his legs and pooled at his feet; he stepped out of them, tipping his head back as Brian's lips slid down his jaw and neck, latching onto the skin over his pulse. Whimpering, Justin threaded his hands into Brian's hair and arched into his mouth as the low sultry beat and words of a song in the distance caught his ears, '… _so tired and revealing, the moves that I make.'_ Justin smirked, and couldn't help but think that the words and beat were more than suiting for their tryst.

Pulling Brian's head away from his neck he crushed their lips together, licking into his mouth and tangling their tongues as the words continued to wash over him. ' _And I know, yes I know; but is this real…'_ Justin hummed, his hands dropping to and wrapping around Brian's shoulders, his fingers toying with the short hairs at the nape of his neck; he didn't know if this was more than lust, but he couldn't wait to find out.

Brian groaned and grabbed the back of Justin's neck and hauled him fully against him, molding their bodies together until not even a piece of paper could slide between them. He took control of the kiss, biting and licking and teasing Justin's lips as Justin slid his hands over his torso and stomach and down his treasure trail to his fly.

"We'll see about that," Justin managed to pant out between kisses, his fingers quickly and deftly working the buttons on Brian's jeans.

Brian pulled back and arched a brow, a hint of admiration in his eyes at Justin's audacity, and then he hissed as Justin shoved his pants down, his fingers brushing over his erection as he did so. Justin smirked; and then swallowed thickly as hazel eyes slid over him hungrily, searing his skin, and Brian slid his hands to the waistband of his boxer briefs and slid them down an inch.

Torn between excitement and nerves, Justin faltered and took a minute step backwards and hit the table with his supplies, sending several of his tools clattering. Fuck. The project; he'd forgotten all about it. Inhaling sharply, Justin cursed internally and tried to get his breathing and libido under control; but it was difficult to do with Brian's hard, leaking dick pressed against his. He was close to saying fuck it and taking the late grade when Brian looked over his shoulder and sighed.

And he could tell the second Brian came back to himself because he buried his face into Justin's neck and let loose a string of expletives that impressed even Justin; Daphne had always told him that he had the foulest mouth she'd ever known. Clutching at Justin's waist, Brian crushed them together and ground his cock against Justin's as he kissed him hard and long on the mouth; and then he reluctantly stepped back.

"But in this case; I'll allow you to keep these," Brian said, snapping the waistband of Justin's boxer briefs; Justin hissed and then groaned when Brian pressed his mouth against his ear, sucking on the lobe before he murmured. "Besides, when I get you naked for the first time, I want to be in a place with a bed where I can fully appreciate it."

And then he stepped away and put some much needed distance between the two of them, his back coiled and tight as he turned around and sucked in a deep breath. Justin cursed aloud and glared balefully at the chicken wire and other tools, wondering why he was putting off the inevitable for a completely ridiculous project that his instructor would be barely lucid enough to judge. And if it weren't for the fact that he didn't want to spoil his 4.0 GPA, he'd say fuck it and take the incomplete in favor of getting Brian into the nearest bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Prompts:** Justin POV; Brian suggesting they even things up. After all, if he has to be in his underwear, why shouldn’t Justin; When in Rome, do as the Romans do; an empty carton of ice cream – Salted Caramel Swirl, paint brush, copper, branch, ill-fated, Is this Real by Lisa Hall

**Author's Note:**

>  **Prompts:** Brian/Justin; College AU; Brian poses nude for one of Justin’s projects and hijinks ensue; turquoise, vodka shots, Tall, Dark and Steamy, “You make him sound like a latte.”


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